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Taute starts in WP midfield

Cape Town - Jaco Taute will make his first Currie Cup start in Western Province colours, after being named at inside centre for Saturday's meeting with the Blue Bulls in Pretoria (kick-off 17:05).

Springbok Taute replaces the injured Michael van der Spuy (hamstring) in the No 12 shirt in the only change to the WP starting XV from last weekend's 27-14 win over the Golden Lions.

Former SA Under-20 star Pat Howard, a Round 1 try-scorer against the EP Kings, replaces Taute on the bench - meaning just two changes overall to the WP 22-man squad from last week.

Taute scored a valuable try off the bench last week after replacing Van der Spuy in the 59th minute and his experience will be a major boon for the unbeaten and table-topping Western Province outfit ahead of Saturday's clash at Loftus Versfeld.

WP coach Allister Coetzee told the WP Rugby website: "This is a great opportunity for Jaco. I've said before that his size and skill-set could make him into the ideal centre and he now has an opportunity to show us just that.

"Jaco is still very young (at 23 years of age) but he's already very experienced having played Test and Super Rugby at centre before.

"But his skill and strength aside, his communication is his biggest attribute and I look forward to seeing him operate in the No 12 jersey.

"Your depth is tested quite severely during the Currie Cup, so having versatile players like Jaco (in our squad) is a good thing - especially ahead of a big game like Saturday," said Coetzee.

The Bulls picked up a welcome 30-25 win over the EP Kings last weekend and will be determined to make it back-to-back victories in front of their home support as they also look to avenge their 41-17 Round 2 defeat to WP in Cape Town two weeks ago.

"We will respect any team we play against and it doesn't get much bigger than playing against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld - no matter what happened last time between us," said Coetzee.

"The Bulls did well to beat the EP Kings. Don't look at the scoreline, they've come off a difficult few weeks and it was a big and valuable win for them."

Teams:

Blue Bulls:
TBA

Western Province:
15. Cheslin Kolbe, 14. Kobus van Wyk, 13. Juan de Jongh (captain), 12. Jaco Taute 11. Seabelo Senatla, 10. Demetri Catrakilis, 9. Nic Groom, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Michael Rhodes, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Manuel Carizza, 4. Jean Kleyn, 3. Pat Cilliers (vice-captain), 2. Stephan Coetzee, 1. Alistair Vermaak

Substitutes: 16. Neil Rautenbach, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Ruan Botha, 19. Rynhardt Elstadt, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Kurt Coleman, 22. Pat Howard
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