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Willie Roos back to haunt WP?

Cape Town - Willie Roos will be back in the TMO hot seat when the Free State Cheetahs tackle Western Province in their Absa Currie Cup match in Bloemfontein on Friday.

Roos infuriated WP when he awarded a controversial penalty try to the Golden Lions when the teams clashed at Ellis Park last month.

The Lions, trailing 25-10, were awarded a penalty try by Roos in the 48th minute of the match, as fullback Marnitz Boshoff reached for the tryline and WP centre Damian de Allende dived in at the ball.

Whether or not Boshoff managed to touch the ball on the line, as he rolled over, was inconclusive on television replays, but Roos shocked both coaching teams by awarding a penalty try for De Allende "diving in on the side and on the player".

To make matters worse for WP, De Allende was yellow-carded and the Lions managed to fight back to draw the match 31-all.

SA referees boss André Watson defended Roos afterwards, but fans and pundits were not convinced.

Roos will again be the television match official (TMO) for Friday's game at the Free State Stadium, which is sure to make Capetonians sleep uneasy.

Roos is no stranger to controversy as an official.

He retired from refereeing in 2009 after he was abused and had a drink flung in his face in Kimberley following a Currie Cup match, but has since re-emerged in the television hot seat.

WP coach Allister Coetzee had a chuckle when he was asked how he felt about Roos's appointment.

"Let me tell you I am very satisfied with... Um... the officials for the game," Coetzee told Die Burger's website.

Marius Jonker will be the referee for the clash which kicks off at 17:05.

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs:

15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Piet Lindeque, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Lappies Labuschagné, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Freddie Ngoza, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Hercu Liebenberg, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.

Substitutes: 16 AJ le Roux, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Francois Uys, 19 Davon Raubenheimer, 20 Piet van Zyl, 21 Rayno Benjamin, 22 Willie du Plessis

Western Province:

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

Substitutes: 16. Michael Willemse, 17. Brok Harris, 18. Gerbrandt Grobler, 19. Schalk Burger, 20. Josh Katzen, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Demetri Catrakilis
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