Carr takes over WP captaincy

Cape Town - Nizaam Carr has been named Western Province captain following an injury to regular skipper Juan de Jongh.

De Jongh suffered a Grade Two Medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear in WP’s 9-3 win over Free State at the weekend, which ruled him out of action for eight to 10 weeks.

Coach John Dobson is confident that Carr can step in to fill the captaincy void.

“Nizaam is a local lad, who has played all of his rugby for Western Province and this is a great opportunity for him,” Dobson told the WP Rugby website.

“He was one of our better players in the tough weather conditions at the weekend. He has been a leader within the squad for some time now and I look forward to seeing him bring the best out of those around him.”

Carr, 24, has played 30 matches for Western Province since his debut in August 2011.

“To captain a proud union like this is in an historic competition like the Currie Cup is a massive honour and responsibility for me,” said Carr.

“We have a lot of leaders within our young playing group and there isn’t much for me to change, given what Juan has put in place, so I will just go about my business as usual with a few added responsibilities.”

WP's next assignment is away to the Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday (19:10 kick-off).

The team will be named at lunch-time on Thursday.