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Cape Town - Western Province head coach Allister Coetzee has named his team for Friday's Currie Cup clash against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria.
Kick-off is at 19:10.
Coetzee has made just one change to the starting XV from last week, with Nic Groom and Louis Schreuder rotating at scrumhalf.
The WP boss has also opted for a five-two forwards split on the bench, with loose forward JJ Gagiano replacing centre Berton Klaasen in the matchday 22.
Unfortunately, flanker Rynhardt Elstadt - who was due to make his return from a rib cartilage injury this week - was not considered for selection, after suffering a recurrence of his injury.
Elstadt woke up in discomfort on Tuesday morning, after team training on Monday, and after being sent for a scan it was decided to withdraw him from the selection frame for this weekend.
Western Province might have beaten the Blue Bulls 42-6 in their previous Currie Cup encounter this season (just over a month ago), but coach Coetzee warned that a far tougher Bulls outfit would be waiting for his team at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
"They're definitely a desperate side and I can tell you that they'll come out firing in what will be a tough game for us," he said.
"The Bulls are a proud union, this is unfamiliar territory for them. We really expect nothing less than the game of the season for them. It's a big challenge and it's one we're looking forward to."
Teams:
Blue Bulls:
15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouchè, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jean Cook, 6 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Mornè Mellett/Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Warwick Tecklenburg, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Lionel Cronjè, 22 Ulrich Beyers
Western Province:
15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Damian de Allende, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Tyrone Holmes, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Don Armand, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Helmut Lehmann, 20 JJ Gagiano, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Pat Howard
Kick-off is at 19:10.
Coetzee has made just one change to the starting XV from last week, with Nic Groom and Louis Schreuder rotating at scrumhalf.
The WP boss has also opted for a five-two forwards split on the bench, with loose forward JJ Gagiano replacing centre Berton Klaasen in the matchday 22.
Unfortunately, flanker Rynhardt Elstadt - who was due to make his return from a rib cartilage injury this week - was not considered for selection, after suffering a recurrence of his injury.
Elstadt woke up in discomfort on Tuesday morning, after team training on Monday, and after being sent for a scan it was decided to withdraw him from the selection frame for this weekend.
Western Province might have beaten the Blue Bulls 42-6 in their previous Currie Cup encounter this season (just over a month ago), but coach Coetzee warned that a far tougher Bulls outfit would be waiting for his team at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.
"They're definitely a desperate side and I can tell you that they'll come out firing in what will be a tough game for us," he said.
"The Bulls are a proud union, this is unfamiliar territory for them. We really expect nothing less than the game of the season for them. It's a big challenge and it's one we're looking forward to."
Teams:
Blue Bulls:
15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouchè, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jean Cook, 6 Dewald Potgieter (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Mornè Mellett/Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Grant Hattingh, 19 Warwick Tecklenburg, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Lionel Cronjè, 22 Ulrich Beyers
Western Province:
15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Damian de Allende, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Tyrone Holmes, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Don Armand, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Substitutes: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Helmut Lehmann, 20 JJ Gagiano, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Pat Howard
