Steven Kitshoff will make his return from injury in the blue and white hoops of Western Province at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday.
Province take on the Lions in a Currie Cup clash that kicks off at 15:00 on Saturday in Johannesburg.
Kitshoff is joined in the front row by hooker and captain Scarra Ntubeni, who he played alongside in the 2012 Currie Cup Final, and Junior Springbok skipper Zachary Porthen who makes his first start for the senior side.
The other changes to the forward pack see Andre Goedhals start in the second row in place of the injured Gary Porter, while there is also an all-new loose trio of CJ Velleman, a fit-again Louw Nel and Divan Fuller at No.8.
Dewaldt Duvenage will partner Jurie Matthee at halfback, with Wandisile Simelane at outside centre in the only change to the backline.
Springbok hooker Andre-Hugo Venter is on a replacement bench which also features Maties scrumhalf Ezekiel Ngobeni, who is in line to make his debut.
Director of Rugby John Dobson said that the addition of two Springbok front-row forwards is a big boost ahead of the trip to Johannesburg.
“Steven and Andre-Hugo are top players who will add a lot, while the return of players such as Louw Nel, CJ Velleman and Wandisile Simelane also strengthens our team.
“It will be a big challenge up in Johannesburg and we are sure to see further growth from the players in this group, which is very exciting,” he said.
Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 JC Mars, 13 Wandisile Simelane, 12 Damian Markus, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Divan Fuller, 7 Louw Nel, 6 CJ Velleman, 5 Handre Stassen, 4 Andre Goedhals, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni (captain), 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements – 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Enos Ndiao, 20 Paul de Villiers, 21 Sibusiso Sangweni, 22 Ezekiel Ngobeni, 23 Joshua Boulle.
Springboks Steven Kitshoff and Andre-Hugo Venter come into the DHL WP match 23 for the trip up to Joburg this weekend.
— WP RUGBY (@WP_RUGBY) August 16, 2024
📢 Team announcement https://t.co/j1n7dXXCVJ#LIOvWP #wpjoulekkerding #dhldelivers pic.twitter.com/f0LORavptJ
