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Cape Town - Nizaam Carr will earn his 50th cap for Western Province in their Currie Cup encounter with the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.
The 26-year-old loose forward will start at No 8 in the clash at Mbombela Stadium (19:15 kick-off).
Up front, there are two new props with JC Janse van Rensburg at loosehead and Michael Kumbirai coming into the starting line-up at tighthead, in the absence of Wilco Louw who has been called up to the Springbok squad in New Zealand.
Ali Vermaak and Caylib Oosthuizen provide front row cover, with loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe alongside them to provide impact off the bench.
The only change to the backline which did duty in the 57-14 victory against the Free State Cheetahs at Newlands last weekend sees a fit-again Seabelo Senatla on the right wing, with his Springbok Sevens team-mate Werner Kok providing cover on the bench.
Western Province coach John Dobson said that his side is under no illusion about the size of the task facing them in Nelspruit.
“We have seen how tough it has been for sides to go to Mbombela Stadium this season, so we know that we will have to be at our best on Friday,” Dobson said.
“We have challenged ourselves to lift our intensity and be as accurate as possible for what is a critical hurdle in our Currie Cup campaign.”
Teams:
Pumas
15 Justin van Staden, 14 Jerome Pretorius, 13 Gerrit Smith, 12 Hennie Skorbinski (captain), 11 Ruwellyn Isbell, 10 Kobus Marais, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Lambert Groenewald, 6 Thembelani Bholi, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Mark Pretorius, 1 Khwezi Mona
Substitutes: 16 Frank Herne, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Brian Shabangu, 20 Hilton Lobberts, 21 Reynier van Rooyen, 22 Selom Gavor
Western Province
15 Craig Barry, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Ruhan Nel, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Cobus Wiese, 6 Jaco Coetzee, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Chris van Zyl (captain), 3 Michael Kumbirai, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Substitutes: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Caylib Oosthuizen, 19 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Werner Kok
