DHL Western Province Under-21 coach John Dobson has made four changes to his table-topping team for Friday’s meeting against the Leopards U21s at Profert Olën Park in Potchefstroom (kick-off 16h30).

One of those changes will see Justin Benn (pictured) start in the No.6 jersey, with fellow ball hunter Eital Bredenkamp starting from the bench – in the continued absence of injured regular skipper Josh Katzen.

Dobson told www.wprugby.com: “We won’t want to rush Josh back from his rib injury and I think Justin Benn, who has had a slow start to the year after a long-term injury, deserves his first start of 2013.

“Like I always say, we’re very blessed to be able to call upon No.6s like Josh, Eital and Justin and they will all hopefully benefit from the shared game time come the business-end of the season.”

No.8 Rayn Smid, who skippered the team in last weekend’s 32-13 win over the Free State Cheetahs Under-21s, will again be in charge in Potchefstroom, with coach Dobson bringing back regular scrumhalf Godlen Masimla and fit-again tighthead prop Justin Ackerman, as well as introducing SA Under-20 lock Ruan Botha, who is also back to full fitness.

“I can’t see guys like Ruan and Justin going the full eighty minutes, so it’s good to get them out there first and to get the best out of them.

“At the same time, a player like Ollie Kebble has carried a huge workload, as has Jean Kleyn, and they will – of course – offer a lot from what is an amazing bench in terms of the talent available.

“It’s fantastic to have a guy like Ruan Botha back (from injury). He’s been very unlucky this year, playing just one Vodacom Cup match, but he’s worked hard and I know he’s very excited to play for this team.”

The DHL WP Under-21s, losing finalists in last year’s Provincial Under-21 tournament, currently top the log with 29 points from their seven matches to date – four points ahead of the Bulls and the Sharks.

Dobson, however, is not looking past Friday afternoon ahead of a tough schedule of away matches over the coming weeks.

“It’s quite a schedule,” he said, “after this weekend, we head off to play the Blue Bulls, Border and the Sharks with just one home match in between (against the Lions).

“The Leopards went down 33-48 to the Blue Bulls in Pretoria last week, but it was a lot tighter up until half-time. We have a massive amount of respect for them and won’t take them lightly in Potchefstroom.

“But I think we’re in a good space,” added Dobson, “we’ve worked very hard to be where we are and we don’t want to throw it away.

“I thought we did some good things against the FS Cheetahs last week, mixed in with some bad, and one thing we need to do is get our hard-running, direct centres (Kobus van Wyk and Pat Howard) into the game a bit more.”

The DHL Western Province Under-21 team to take on the Leopards is as follows:

15. Craig Barry
14. JP Lewis
13. Pat Howard
12. Kobus van Wyk
11. Devon Williams
10. Tim Swiel
9. Godlen Masimla
8. Rayn Smid (captain)
7. Sikhumbuzo Notshe
6. Justin Benn
5. Ruan Botha
4. Jurie van Vuuren
3. Justin Ackerman
2. Stephan Coetzee
1. Sti Sithole

Replacements:
16. Michael Willemse
17. Oliver Kebble
18. Jean Kleyn
19. Carel du Preez
20. Eital Bredenkamp
21. Jean Nel
22. Kyle Lombard

Referee: Pieter Janse van Vuuren