DHL Western Province are heading up to Johannesburg ready for anything that the Xerox Lions or the weather might throw at them at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday.

With wet weather and possible thundershowers predicted for gameday, DHL Western Province know that they may well need to adapt their game accordingly in the Carling Currie Cup encounter.

Head Coach John Dobson said that his team have prepared for both the opposition and any impact the weather may have on proceedings this week, with two separate plans that should ensure that they are ready for whatever comes their way.

“It looks like there might be wet weather and lightning, which changes the dynamic a bit.

“We have completely planned two scenarios, our plan for the game in the normal conditions at Emirates Airline Park and then the thunderstorm, heavy rain and heavy field.

“We tried to make sure that the changes were relatively small in terms of our plan, so we are prepared for that,” he explained.

The loss of fullback Warrick Gelant to a knee injury that is set to rule him out for at least six months sees Damian Willemse shift to fullback and Tim Swiel come in at flyhalf.

Dobson said that he is looking forward to seeing what both players have to offer on Saturday.

“Damian has played Test rugby at fullback, he has played against England at Twickenham in that position so it is not new for him, it is a pretty logical change.

“Tim Swiel we feel did really well when he has come on for us this season and is a really good game-manager,” he said.

After featuring off the replacement bench last week, Ruhan Nel comes into the starting line-up in midfield where he will link up with Dan du Plessis.

“Ruhan Nel has been our top 13 but has been coming off a long-term injury. Dan du Plessis moves to 12, which is his natural position. It is quite nice to have a natural 12 and 13 and a really good game-manager at 10,” said Dobson.

The final change to the backline sees scrumhalf Godlen Masimla get a start, with Paul de Wet among the replacements, which means that Herschel Jantjies is rested as part of a rotation system.

“We have got three really similar scrumhalves, which is nice for us in terms of our game model. It was pre-planned two weeks ago that Godlen and Paul would play this game and Paul and Herschel will play next week.

“The scrumhalves are identical, it is actually freakish. The way they break, they defend, their skills, they kick the same.

“We have gone pretty clearly with Herschel this season, other than his compassionate leave. We have got two other really good scrumhalves and if Herschel gets injured it would be irresponsible of us not to give these guys some exposure,” Dobson explained.

DHL Western Province captain Siya Kolisi said that his team know that they have to produce their best from this point on if they are to secure a home play-off spot at DHL Newlands.

“We want to make sure we at least get to play a home semifinal at DHL Newlands, so we want to have the best team out there each game so that we can finish this competition strong.

“It is a huge tournament, it is the oldest tournament in rugby and we want to make sure we give our best, not only for ourselves but for the faithful as well, they deserve it. So every game we want to go into it with the same mentality,” he said.