DHL WP forced to change

May 12 • General News • 1467 Views • Comments Off on DHL WP forced to change

DHL Western Province coach John Dobson has been forced to make six changes to his starting line-up for their clash with the EP Kings at City Park in Athlone this weekend.

A combination of injuries and call-ups to the DHL Stormers squad has seen Dobson shuffle his resources as his team aim for their fourth win of the season in a match that kicks off at 16h00 on Saturday, with tickets available at the gate at R20 for adults and R10 for scholars, while season tickets for DHL Newlands will also be valid.

There are four changes to the backline, with JP Lewis and Devon Williams starting on the wings in the absence of Khanyo Ngcukana, while Ryan Oosthuizen replaces Tim Whitehead in midfield and Justin Phillips comes in at scrumhalf for Godlen Masimla who has been ruled out with concussion.

In the forward pack Janco Venter gets an opportunity at flank, and fit-again Frans van Wyk steps in at tighthead prop with JP Smith shifting across to fill the gap left by Alistair Vermaak at loosehead.

Dobson said that his team is determined to get back to winning ways, after suffering their first defeat of the campaign against the Cell C Sharks XV in Durban last week.

“There have been some disruptions, but we have worked incredibly hard this week and the players are really motivated to give a good account of themselves.

“We are up against a good side in the EP Kings who beat the Vodacom Blue Bulls last week, so we will need to need to make a step up to get back on the winning track again,” he said.

DHL Western Province: 15 Grant Hermanus, 14 JP Lewis, 13 Ryan Oosthuizen, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Scott van Breda, 9 Justin Phillips, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Janco Venter, 6 Luke Stringer, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 3 Frans van Wyk, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 JP Smith.
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Kyle Whyte, 18 Meyer Swanepoel, 19 Christo van der Merwe, 20 Damian Stevens, 21 Sibahle Maxwane, 22 Berton Klaassen.