WP coach explains Taute snub

Cape Town - Western Province coach John Dobson has explained his decision to not pick Jaco Taute for their Currie Cup Premier Division opener against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria.

Scott van Breda will start at fullback on Friday, while there is also no spot for Taute on the bench.

Taute has endured a tough time of late with injuries and only recently returned to action for the Stormers in Super Rugby.

He was less than impressive in the Stormers’ 60-21 quarter-final defeat to the Chiefs but Dobson said the decision to omit Taute was tactical.

“It’s a case of who we view as the best player for this specific challenge. Jaco will be back, but Scott has a massive boot and can kick the ball over from inside his own half,” Dobson told Netwerk24.

“This is the type of game where you want to keep the scoreboard ticking over with kicks in order to put pressure on your opponents.”

Dobson also raised eyebrows when he left Stormers wing Kobus van Wyk out of the match-day squad.

“Kobus played 1 034 more minutes of Super Rugby than any other Stormers player. Therefore, we decided to rest him,” said the WP mentor.

Kick-off for Friday’s clash at Loftus Versfeld is scheduled for 17:10.

Teams:

Blue Bulls

15 Bjorn Basson, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha (captain), 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Entienne Swanepoel, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman

Substitutes: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Nqoba Mxoli, 18 Eli Snyman, 19 Hanro Liebenberg, 20 Andre Warner, 21 Tony Jantjies, 22 Dan Kriel

Western Province

15 Scott van Breda, 14 Khanyo Ngcukana, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Daniel du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak

Substitutes: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 JP Smith, 19 Kobus van Dyk, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Brandon Thomson, 22 Johnny Kotze