Neethling Fouche will make his return to the playing field as a member of the DHL Western Province team that faces Tafel Lager Griquas in a Carling Currie Cup match in Kimberley on Friday evening.
The tighthead has been out since being injured in the Stormers’ Vodacom United Rugby Championship loss to the Emirates Lions in Cape Town in early December and his absence, along with that of Springbok first choice Frans Malherbe, has been felt by the Cape team.
Fouche was always expected to be back in time for next week’s URC clash with Connacht in Galway, so the Kimberley match is perfectly placed for him to pick up the necessary game time in advance of the trip to Ireland.
Other players playing for WP on Friday who we can expect to be involved in some capacity in Galway are wing Sergeal Petersen, flanks Marcel Theunissen and Nama Xaba, who also captains the team, lock David Meihuizen, hooker Andre-Hugo Venter and possibly loosehead prop Ali Vermaak.
Looseforward Junior Pokomela, who has also been out injured for a while, also returns to the playing field in Kimberley, although in his case he will make his return off the bench.
An interesting selection is that of young flyhalf Kade Wolhuter as the starting fullback. Wolhuter returned to the playing field as a replacement in that position against the Cell C Sharks in WP’s last match in the domestic competition two weeks ago.
Wolhuter could conceivably also be travelling to Galway next week as he was good when he played for the Stormers as a 19-year-old last but it is unlikely as Stormers coach John Dobson has said that he’d prefer him to gain his confidence in the lower tier of competition first before being pushed through into the high pressured URC environment.
WP have losses to the Bulls (home) and Sharks away in addition to their opening win over the Sigma Lions so there will be intense pressure on them to reverse last year’s poor record against Griquas, who they lost to both in Kimberley and at Newlands.
DHL Western Province:Kade Wolhuter, Sergeal Petersen, Mnombo Zwelendaba, Cornel Smit, Leolin Zas, Tim Swiel, Godlen Masimla, Keke Morabe, Marcel Theunissen, Nama Xaba (captain), David Meihuizen, Ben-Jason Dixon, Neethling Fouche, Andre-Hugo Venter, Ali Vermaak.
Replacements:Chad Solomon, Leon Lyons, Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, Connor Evans, Junior Pokomela, Thomas Bursey, Sacha Mngomezulu, Ethan James.