WP coach backs his charges to improve in Joburg

DHL Western Province coach Labeeb Levy appeared encouraged enough by his team’s much improved second half against the Vodacom Bulls last week to keep changes to a minimum for Saturday’s second round Carling Currie Cup match against the ADT Lions in Johannesburg.

The hosts were comprehensively beaten at DHL Stadium last weekend mainly because their opponents, who boasted a much more experienced team, took control of the forward exchanges early, forcing WP to make errors that were punished by the referee in the form of cards and penalties and, with their opponents down to 13 men, capitalised on that momentum to open a big lead.

However, with the development of individual players high on the WP priority list in this competition, WP will feel that their efforts weren’t all in vain and they did show plenty of promise in their second half performance. The strongly built replacement wing Sako Matata was one of the players to impress and he has been rewarded by inclusion on the right wing in the starting team this week.

There are two changes at wing, with Jared Africa coming in on the left, and also two changes to the pack, where last year’s Junior Bok captain Zachary Porthen starts at tighthead while Gideon van Wyk comes in at blindside flank. The man who wore the No7 last week, Louw Nel, who is one of relatively few players in the Province team with Vodacom United Rugby Championship, has switched this week to No8.

Levy hasn’t called up a raft of Junior Boks as he might have been expected to, but the highly rated Gino Cupido comes in on the bench, and the coach will be hoping that the continuity in selection, with the bulk of the team having the experience now of having played together, will work against what should be a strong Lions team that hammered the Sharks XV first up.

TEAM: Shilton van Wyk, Sako Matata, Luke Burger, Damian Markus, Jared Africa, Kyle Smith, Asad Moos, Louw Nel, Gideon van Wyk, Zain Davids (captain), Gary Porter, Alex Groves, Zachary Porthen, Scarra Ntubeni, Sti Sithole.

REPLACEMENTS: Lukhanyo Vokozela, Mhleli, Arno Gustafson, Andre Goehals, Erhard Lambrecht, Ezekiel Ngobeni, Gino Cupido, Tristan Leyds.