Jaque not nimble but Aplon will be quick

Western Province centre Jaque Fourie will miss Saturday's Currie Cup semifinal against the Free State Cheetahs after failing to respond to treatment of an injured foot.

But the Bulls received a boost yesterday when both No8 Pierre Spies and flank Deon Stegmann passed fitness tests.

The extent of Fourie's injury, suffered during Saturday's 33-21 win over the Sharks at Newlands, is still unclear and WP officials would not say if it was of a long-term nature.

Should WP advance to the October 30 final, Fourie will have two weeks to prove his fitness.

As a consequence of Fourie's injury, Jean de Villiers will revert to inside centre from the wing, with Juan de Jongh taking over Fourie's No13 jersey. Gio Aplon will move from fullback to wing and Conrad Jantjes will wear the No15 jersey.

"It [the injury] is not looking good, and it will be a big blow to lose the services of a Springbok, especially for such a crunch match," WP coach Allister Coetzee said.

"We know how valuable he is, but we'll have to soldier on with a changed backline."

The Cheetahs have no injury concerns and spent a considerable part of their Monday video session analysing the WP backline.

Cheetahs backline coach Hawies Fourie believes his side's ability to run intelligent lines and work hard off the ball is a better way to break down WP's defence than using pure speed.

The Sharks, meanwhile, will welcome back loose forwards Keegan Daniel and Willem Alberts as well as lock Steven Sykes for their clash against the Blue Bulls.

"The Bulls don't change what they do all that much and while we have an idea of what to expect from them, we will need to stop them," Sharks assistant coach Grant Bashford said.

"We've had some great battles as well as successes against them in the past, and obviously the pressure, intensity and expectations will all be there again on Saturday."

At the Bulls, Spies had been struggling with a calf muscle injury but ran without discomfort during a gruelling session at Loftus.

Stegmann, who sustained a torn hamstring earlier in the Currie Cup campaign, also ran comfortably and will join Spies on the bench for the match against the Sharks.

Danie Rossouw is expected to start at No 8, with Dewald Potgieter and Derick Kuun operating on the side of the scrum at kick-off.

The Bulls will have a five/two split among forwards and backs on the bench for the match in which the physical stakes will be massive.