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Cape Town - Western Province coach John Dobson has made a number of changes to his team to face the Free State Cheetahs at Newlands on Friday.
Following their bye week and training camp in Hermanus, Western Province will be looking for their first win of the Currie Cup Premier Division campaign in a match that kicks off at 17:10.
There are two new faces amongst the outside backs with Jaco Taute coming in at fullback and Kobus van Wyk replacing the injured Khanyo Ngcukana on the right wing, whilst Olympic Bronze medallist Cheslin Kolbe has returned from Rio and will provide cover on the bench.
In midfield, Huw Jones shifts to inside centre in place of Dan du Plessis who is out with a shoulder injury, with Johnny Kotze coming into the starting line-up at outside centre.
Flyhalf Brandon Thomson will make his first Currie Cup start for Western Province to form a halfback partnership with Jano Vermaak, with Robert du Preez and Godlen Masimla on the bench.
In the forward pack, Sikhumbuzo Notshe returns from the Springbok squad to take his place at No 8 in a loose forward combination with Kobus van Dyk and Rynhardt Elstadt.
Jan de Klerk comes in at lock for JD Schickerling who is battling illness to pair up with captain Chris van Zyl in the second row, whilst the only front row change comes on the bench with JC Janse van Rensburg coming in for Oli Kebble who is sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Dobson said that following their bye week, his team will have to raise their standards considerably to earn a vital win against the Free State Cheetahs.
“The players have worked hard this week, and we know that we are in for a serious test against a Toyota Free State Cheetahs side that has won both of their games this season convincingly.
“We will have to raise our standards, but we are confident that we can get the result we are looking for at Newlands if we execute our plans,” he said.
Teams:
Western Province
15 Jaco Taute, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Alistair Vermaak
Substitutes: 16 Martin Ferreira, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 JP Smith, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Cheslin Kolbe
Free State Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Nico Lee, 12 William Small-Smith, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Charles Marais
Substitutes (from): 16 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Justin Basson, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Shaun Venter, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Michael van der Spuy
