Friday, 4th May 2007 at 2:43 pm

The return of Ashwin Willemse

Recognise the guy in the picture? Vaguely familiar, but can’t quite place him? You’d be forgiven - he hasn’t played rugby for 18 months, and what he had played up until then had been sporadic. Ashwin Willemse hit the game with enough of a bang to become a Springbok regular, and be named Player of the Year, but a cruel litany of injuries have reduced him little more than cameo roles in interviews with Jake White, who still refers to Willemse as one of his first choice Springboks.

That Springbok status could take on a more genuine edge on Saturday night, however. Willemse makes a long awaited return to the game with a place on the Lions bench for the derby with the Cheetahs at Ellis Park, and if he makes it through his time on the field - however long that may be - then White may well include the winger in his 45-man Springbok squad, which was to have been named after the Bulls finished demolishing the Reds, but will now be delayed at the request of the Bulls and Sharks with semifinals to focus on. Stranger things have happened…

Elsewhere, Luke Watson’s absence will be the standard talking point (particularly if he has a blinder against the Sharks on Saturday), and a range of young players - amongst them Barritt, Skeate, Kankowski, Murray - could pop up, along with a couple of veterans (the return of Bob Skinstad, perhaps?). 45 players makes for a lot of leeway - and a few surprises. Jake shows his hand on Saturday night; with a World Cup on the horizon, it’ll be a closely watched initial squad.

Feverpitcher squad: Percy Montgomery, Francois Steyn, Bevan Fortuin, Johan Roets, Brent Russell, JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana, Odwa Ndungane, Jean de Villiers, Jacque Fourie, Ronnie Cooke, Waylon Murray, Wynand Olivier, Adrian Jacobs, De Wet Barry, Brad Barritt, Meyer Bosman, Butch James, Andre Pretorius, Fourie du Preez, Ruan Pienaar, Ricky Januarie, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Bob Skinstad, Kabamba Floors, Pedrie Wannenberg, Ernst Joubert, Schalk Burger, Ryan Kankowski, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Corneil van Zyl, Danie Rossouw, Ross Skeate, Johan Ackerman, John Smit, Gary Botha, Bismarck du Plessis, CJ van der Linde, Gurthro Steenkamp, Eddie Andrews, BJ Botha, Heinke van der Merwe, Os du Randt