'Wolf in charge of the chickens': Jean-Luc emulates father, Carel, as maverick turned WP skipper

"The wolf is now in charge of the chickens."

Somewhere between a wolf in sheep's clothing and a fox guarding the henhouse, John Dobson might have fudged his metaphor, but it still brilliantly describes Jean-Luc du Plessis' promotion as Western Province captain for Saturday's Currie Cup clash with the Bulls.

The 28-year-old pivot, who replaces injured captain Juan de Jongh, has always been known as a maverick, a mercurial playmaker who continually flirts with the sublime and the ordinary.

Yet, at the centre of that package is a feisty competitor who has matured considerably since an unfulfilling stint in Japan and relaunching his career at the Cape Town Stadium.

And to truly place the cherry on top, Du Plessis continues a family tradition.

His father, Carel, anointed with the grand tag of the "Prince of Wings", captained the Streeptruie to three Currie Cup finals, lifting the trophy twice in 1986 and 1989 (shared).

"We had to re-brand him at some stage," Dobson said, to much laughter on Friday.

"This is the start, to step it up.

"We're so lucky to have J-L back. He's delivered a massive contribution to this union, not only recently, but over the past five years. At No 10, he can play very similarly to Manie (Libbok) in terms of our game model. He's just a natural [leader] and so competitive.

"The wolf is in charge of the chickens now. Let's see what happens."

Western Province

15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Luke Burger, 13 Cornel Smit, 12 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Willie Engelbrecht, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Dylan de Leeuw, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak

Substitutes: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Corne