De Jongh leading WP sparks speculation

Springbok centre Juan de Jongh will lead DHL Western Province in their final Carling Currie Cup league match of the season against the Cell C Sharks in Stellenbosch on Friday.

If that comes as a surprise, so it should be, as De Jongh was the man slated by DHL Stormers coach John Dobson to play in the injured Rikus Pretorius’s place when he spoke to the media after his team’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinal win over Edinburgh last week.

That he’s leading Province is a clear indication that either Willemse, who the Stormers have never given up hope on being available to play in Saturday’s semifinal against Ulster despite the negative prognosis of before the Edinburgh game, has made the miraculous recovery they were praying for, or Pretorius’s injury wasn’t as bad as it looked when he came off last week.

Significantly, no-one asked at a press conference on Wednesday whether Pretorius was available or not, it was all about Willemse.

Dobson said that he was giving Willemse until late as possible to prove his readiness, which is understandable given how important Willemse is to the Stormers game. Pretorius being fit would also be good for the Stormers.

The other less likely alternative is that Sacha Mngomezulu will make a start this week in the midfield position he played most of the game as a replacement against Edinburgh.

That’s highly unlikely though given that their Ulster have in Stuart McCloskey and James Hume two of the best centres in the competition.

Dobson mentioned Tim Swiel as a possibility on Wednesday, meaning Swiel starts at No10 and Manie Libbok takes up inside centre, but WP coach Jerome Paarwater confirmed on Thursday that Swiel, last week’s Province captain, was ruled out by a thumb injury.

It would also be an absurd risk to play Swiel, who is not the recognised as a flyhalf that likes tackling, and Libbok together in the 10/12 axis when they have the muscular and attritional McCloskey playing against them.

One of the Ulster routes to victory over the Sharks recently was McCloskey running at Curwin Bosch’s channel.

The smart money then should be on Willemse having been pronounced fit to play, something that would be a massive boost to the Stormers.

The other two possibilities can’t be ruled out, however, so Ulster will still be guessing until the Stormers team is announced on Friday morning.

Tristan Leyds moves from fullback to flyhalf as a replacement for Swiel, with Sergeal Petersen moving from wing to fullback in the team to face the Sharks at the Danie Craven Stadium.

Ebenezer Tshimanga comes back into the team on the left wing.

There are two changes to the pack, with Shaine Orderson making his first start on the flank and Lee-Marvin Muzibuko coming in at tighthead prop.

The match was rescheduled to Friday in Stellenbosch, with a 14pm kick-off, due to a clash with the original scheduling of a Saturday afternoon kick-off at DHL Stadium, where the URC semifinal will be played.

WP have no interest in the race for semifinal places but the Sharks have a lot to play for as a win for them will put pressure on the Airlink Pumas to beat Windhoek Griquas in Nelspruit in the later game on Friday.

DHL Western Province team: Sergeal Petersen, Angelo Davids, Cornel Smit, Juan de Jongh (captain), Ebenezer Tshimanga, Tristan Leyds, Thomas Bursey, Keke Morabe, Marcel Theunissen, Shaine Orderson, Ben-Jason Dixon, Simon Miller, Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, Jacques van Zyl, Ali Vermaak.

Replacements: HP van Schoor, Kwenzo Blose, Leon Lyons, Hilton Lobberts, Jarrod Taylor, Bobby Alexander, Jonathan Roche, Mnombo Zwelendaba.