Cape Town - There are four changes to the Western Province forward pack for their Currie Cup encounter with the Pumas in Nelspruit tonight.
Three of those changes are in the front row and the other at lock, while the backline remains unchanged for the clash at Mbombela Stadium, which kicks off at 7pm.
Jerome Paarwater and co have gone with an all-new front row as they continue hunting only their second win.
Prop Kwenxo Blose and Neethling Fouche will pack down in either side of hooker Jacques van Zyl, while the other change sees Ernst van Rhynstart in the second row.
Hooker HP van Schoor and wing Ebenezer Tshimanga are both set to make their senior Western Province debuts should they provide impact from the bench.
Province, who are second from bottom on the log with just one win from nine outings, got their solo W in their very first game of the season.
Now, as they head into what should be a challenging contest against the Pumas, the Capetonians will look to snap their losing streak.
Speaking earlier this week, Province assistant coach Kabamba Floors spoke about how they can still end their campaign on a respectable note if they secure victories in the three remaining regular-season games, while flank Marcel Theunissen was optimistic that they could still crack into the semi-finals.
While mathematically possible, it’s not exactly a realistic goal for he struggling side as they will have to not only secure wins in all their remaining games, but it’ll also help if those results come in bonus-point form.
Western Province Head Coach Jerome Paarwater said they are looking forward to the challenge in Nelspruit after a bit of a break.
"This latest break has given us another chance to work on a few things and hopefully we will see the result of that on Friday night.
"The players and coaches continue to work hard and we know that we will have to be at our best to come away with a win," he said.
Western Province team: 15 Tristan Leyds 14 Sergeal Petersen 13 Juan de Jongh 12 Cornel Smit 11 Angelo Davids 10 Timothy Swiel 9 Godlen Masimla 8Keke Morabe 7 Marcel Theunissen 6 Nama Xaba (captain) 5 Ben-Jason Dixon 4 Ernst van Rhyn 3 Neethling Fouche 2 Jacques van Zyl 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Bench: 16 HP van Schoor 17 Leon Lyons 18 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko 19 Simon Miller 20 Junior Pokomela 21 Bobby Alexander 22 Mnombo Zwelendaba 23 Ebenezer Tshimanga.
@WynonaLouw