Playmaker Damian Willemse will be back in action for Western Province when they travel to Kimberley to face Griquas in the Currie Cup on Friday.
The big question is, is his return in time for Springbok selection for the World Cup squad?
The national team play Argentina in their final match this weekend before they travel to Japan for the World Cup next month.
And with Willemse having been out since June due to a knee injury, he is in a race against time to prove to coach Rassie Erasmus that he should be in the touring party.
On top of that, Willemse will in all likelihood play at flyhalf against Griquas and not at fullback, where there is already a scramble for places in the back three at WP.
SCRAMBLE: Fullback SP Marais. Photo: Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix.
With fellow Bok Dillyn Leyds manning the No.15 jersey and SP Marais also back from injury and in contention for a starting berth, WP coach John Dobson said last week that they are looking at Willemse as a flyhalf.
He said: “I think the 15 thing was largely around the World Cup, after that I think it’s a clean slate.
“In some ways, he’s more of a 10 - I think he struggles more at 15 where there is too much time and too much space.
“He’s an instinctive player - he is so brilliant at the line, you can see the way he even played at 15, he comes up close to the line where he is more devastating.
“I think our plan around him is at 10 in the future.”
PLAN: Dawie Snyman. Photo: Chris Ricco/BackpagePix.
Assistant coach Dawie Snyman confirmed that Willemse will be back in the hooped jersey.
On whether Willemse will start the match, Snyman says: “That depends on what he can give us.
“The thing with putting an injured guy on the bench is that the starting player also might get injured [early on] and then you can’t control the game time.
“But it depends on what we decide a little bit later.”
If selected for the World Cup, Willemse still has one more chance to prove his worth when the Boks play hosts Japan in their final warm-up match on September 6.