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- Western Province hosts Griquas in Newlands on Saturday – Boxing Day.
- The players have had Christmas day off to spend with their families.
- WP also welcomes several injured players, including wing Sergeal Petersen.
In a normal year, South Africa’s best rugby players would spend the festive period with family and friends, relaxing after a grueling season.
But of course there is nothing normal in 2020.
This year’s edition of the Currie Cup continues to be threatened by the coronavirus crisis, in its second relentless wave in South Africa, and matches lost along the way have certainly threatened the credibility of the tournament.
But with just three rounds of matches remaining, the race for second place, and a semi-final at home, he’s giving the competition an injection of flavor heading into this weekend.
The Lions in second place and WP in fourth are separated by just three record points and with this last season almost certain of WP in Newlands ahead of a relocation to Cape Town Stadium in 2021, home-field advantage for the playoffs would mean a lot.
WP may come in second with a win over Griquas on Saturday now that the Lions’ clash against the top-of-the-table Bulls, also initially scheduled for Boxing Day, has been postponed to next week due to cases. of coronavirus within the Bulls team.
It means that, on Boxing Day, the WP v Griquas match will be the only live rugby in the country.
It provides a unique situation for players and coaches, but the good news for WP is that they have still been given the opportunity to spend Christmas Day with their families.
“It’s pretty exciting,” assistant coach Dawie Snyman said.
“It’s a small adjustment. From the lockdown, the mentality was to get back on the field and play rugby again, so we’ll play rugby any day.
“It’s a little weird having a training session just before Christmas and knowing that you’re playing right after Christmas, but it’s good to be back.
“We will be training on the morning of December 24, which is Thursday morning, then everyone will spend Christmas with their families and we will meet the morning of the day.
“We as a team are quite family oriented … so it’s really nice to see each other at Christmas.”
When asked if he would have to keep an eye on how much he eats for Christmas lunch knowing that he now has a game the next day, wing Angelo Davids laughed.
“Insurance!” he said.
“It’s going to be great to enjoy time with the family on Christmas Day, but we should also focus on playing the next day.”
There is also good news for WP on the injury front and particularly on the baseline, where all forwards Sergeal Petersen, center Ruhan Nel and midfielder Tim Swiel are expected to be fit and available for selection after recovering of their respective setbacks.
The start of Saturday is at 16:30.
