WSB Western Province will travel a few hours to the Garden Route to face a new-look Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers in their season opener of the Hollywoodbets Pro Series.
WP will travel to Oudtshoorn without their head coach Claire Terblance, who is part of the Proteas coaching staff, and former Proteas captain Dané van Niekerk is also in India supporting the Proteas, so she won’t be available for the fixture.
Even without their head coach and van Niekerk, the traveling side is still bringing a strong team to Oudtshoorn that includes captain Leah Jones, Kayla Reyneke, Lara Goodall, Faye Tunnicliffe, Delmi Tucker, Oluhle Siyo, and Nosipho Vezi.
The Badgers will be without long-serving players Micaela Andrews and Jane Winster, as they left at the end of last season. In their place, the Badgers have added Palesa Mapoo, Zintle Kula, Izel Celliers, Yolandi Potgieter, Lucian Swartz, and Evodia Yekile. They join a squad led by Janse van Rensburg, Mieke de Ridder, Julia Hoal, Nadine Moodely, and Khayakazi Mathe, to name a few.
Last season, these sides shared the wins, with the home side taking the Pro50 and the visitors taking Pro20. Western Province will go to the Pro20 as favouritesfavorites since they have won the competition for two seasons in a row. The Pro50 fixture will be an interesting one, as this will be the new-look Badgers’ first competitive match under new coach Wynand de Ridder.
