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De Jongh fills WP's 'big hole'

Cape Town - Springbok centre Juan de Jongh has been drafted straight back into the Western Province starting line-up for Saturday's Currie Cup meeting with Griquas in Kimberley (15:00 kick-off).

De Jongh, who was released from the Bok squad at the weekend, replaces Pat Howard in the No 13 jersey, with the latter dropping out with a slight hamstring strain.

In one other injury-related change in the backline from Saturday’s 15-14 win over the Free State Cheetahs, Gary van Aswegen (shoulder) has not been passed fit, with Kurt Coleman taking over at flyhalf in what will be his first Currie Cup start.

Coleman, however, has 29 WP caps, at Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup level, and has also made six Super Rugby appearances for the Stormers since 2011.

In a final change to the WP starting XV, Springbok prop Pat Cilliers will make his first start for the Cape side, after two appearances off the bench, with recent centurion Brok Harris reverting to the bench.

Joining Harris on the bench in Kimberley will be WP Under-21 flyhalf Tim Swiel, one of four Under-21 players in this weekend’s match-day squad. Swiel will make his senior Currie Cup debut for WP should he take the field on Saturday.

“We know it’s going to be one massive battle (in Kimberley),” coach Allister Coetzee told the WP Rugby website.

"For us it’s about building momentum and not letting slip the things that we’ve improved on last week. That’s what consistency is about and that’s what you need in this competition whether you’re (at) home or away from home.”

Teams:

Griquas:

15 PJ Vermeulen, 14 Nico Scheepers, 13 JP Nel, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Leon Karemaker, 7 Hilton Lobberts, 6 Carel Greeff, 5. Jonathan Adendorf, 4 Jaco Nepgen, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Ryno Barnes (captain), 1 Steph Roberts.

Substitutes: 16. Matthew Dobson, 17. Brummer Badenhorst, 18. RJ Liebenberg , 19. Burger Schoeman, 20. Jacques Coetzee, 21. Du Randt Gerber, 22. Richard Lawson

Western Province:


15. Gio Aplon, 14. Gerhard van den Heever, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Damian de Allende, 11. Cheslin Kolbe, 10. Kurt Coleman, 9. Louis Schreuder, 8. Nizaam Carr, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Deon Fourie (captain), 5. De Kock Steenkamp, 4. Michael Rhodes, 3. Pat Cilliers, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Tiaan Liebenberg, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Gerbrandt Grobler, 19. Rohan Kitshoff, 20. Nic Groom, 21. Tim Swiel, 22. Ryan Nell
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