Levy: WP have to punch first

by | Sep 4, 2025 | African Golf News

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Western Province coach Labeeb Levy has warned his charges to be ready for a physical showdown when they face Boland in Saturday’s Currie Cup clash at Cape Town Stadium.

With several Stormers URC regulars drafted into the starting XV, winless WP will be favourites, but Levy insists they can’t afford to ease off against their high-flying neighbours, who are second on the log.

“We have to punch first because they’ll be coming for a fight,” Levy said. “We need to take the fire out of them and take the game to them instead of them taking us on. They do have gaps in their armoury that we can tackle.”

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Only fullback Luke Burger and tighthead Zachary Porthen retain their places from last week’s run-on side, with Levy stressing that rotation had always been on the cards.

“The players knew that this was going to be the match where changes were made, so this wouldn’t have come as a surprise to the guys missing out,” he explained.

“Winning is not the core goal. We want to try out a few things with the bigger picture [URC] in mind.

“Boland tend to end games off very well and we realise we’ll have to play a full 80 minutes.”

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Among the notable inclusions is veteran scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage, who returns from injury. He’s also been WP’s backline coach during this Currie Cup campaign.

“We’ve had a few niggles at 9,” Levy said. “Ezekiel [Ngobeni] had a big injury against the Pumas and Imad Khan has been unavailable to us due to injury, while Asad Moos has been released to the U21s.

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“Dewies is part of the URC side and he was always going to get some game time, especially after coming back from injury.”

Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images

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