Carr on bench for Bulls clash

Cape Town - Western Province coach John Dobson has named his team to tackle the Blue Bulls in a Currie Cup clash at Newlands on Friday (19:00 kick-off).

Dobson has not tampered too much with the team that beat the Sharks 37-27 in Durban last weekend

The only change to the starting line-up sees Bongi Mbonambi start at hooker, with Scarra Ntubeni moving down to the bench where he will be joined by fit-again No 8 Nizaam Carr.

Carr, who took over the captaincy earlier this season from injured squad leader Juan de Jongh, missed the Sharks game with a hamstring injury and will, wisely, be blooded back via the bench this week.

Scrumhalf Nic Groom will again lead WP into battle, as he did last week, with young Robert du Preez making his second successive start in the No 10 jersey after his impressive display last week as a late replacement for Kurt Coleman.

“We’re fortunate to have Nizaam coming off the bench, from a leadership point of view, after Nic led the team well last week,” Dobson told the WP Rugby website.

“Kurt is obviously still out, but Robert did nicely last week and it’s a great opportunity for him to start his first Currie Cup match at Newlands.

“Bongi, meanwhile, is deserved of a start against his old team - in a rotational switch - and we’re looking to Scarra to provide a similar impact (to Bongi’s) off the bench this week.”

“We’re looking forward to this weekend, as we have a bit of momentum after the last time when we ran into a red-hot Bulls team,” said Dobson.

“We’ve been asked about revenge and putting one over the Bulls, after last time, but it’s not about that. For us, rather, it’s about building on what we’ve achieved over the past two weeks and continuing on the path that we’ve followed in terms of our team’s evolution.”

Teams:

Western Province:

15. Cheslin Kolbe, 14. Dillyn Leyds, 13. Johnny Kotze, 12. Huw Jones, 11. Seabelo Senatla, 10. Robert du Preez, 9. Nic Groom (captain), 8. Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Chris Cloete, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Bongi Mbonambi, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Scarra Ntubeni, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. Chris van Zyl, 19. Nizaam Carr, 20. Jano Vermaak, 21. Demetri Catrakilis, 22. Kobus van Wyk

Blue Bulls:

TBA