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Fleck happy with Taute at 13

Cape Town - The Stormers are happy that Jaco Taute is not part of the Lions' back trio, but instead at outside centre for their Super Rugby clash in Johannesburg on Saturday night.

Lions coach John Mitchell shifted regular fullback Taute to outside centre with Doppies la Grange moving to his inside. Taute’s place will be filled by James Kamana.

"We don't really have any outside centres left, so Jaco has clearly played a lot there," Mitchell told SAPA about his decision to shift the talented youngster.

Mitchell was forced to change his midfield combination after Alwyn Hollenbach was injured.

And Stormers backline coach Robbie Fleck believes the Lions could miss Taute's attacking exploits at the back.

"He is exceptionally good at fullback and I believe they'll miss him for his ability to launch counter attacks," Fleck told Die Burger.

"However, I have to add that he's been replaced by a fairly decent player in James Kamana."

Taute's strength, pace and ability to break the defensive line can nevertheless pose a big threat in midfield as well but the Stormers are confident that their sound defensive system will keep Taute at bay.

While the Lions will be missing Elton Jantjies at flyhalf, Fleck is wary of his replacement, Butch James - a former Springbok team-mate of Fleck.

"Butch is an old hand. People don't realise how intelligent a player he is. He will make good decisions at flyhalf and adds valuable experience," said Fleck.

The clash at Coca-Cola Park kicks off at 19:10 on Saturday.

Teams:

Lions:
15 James Kamana, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Andries Coetzee, 10 Butch James, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Joshua Strauss (captain), 6 Derick Minnie, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Marius Coetzer, 3 Patric Cilliers, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen

Substitutes: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Stephan Greeff, 19 Cobus Grobbelaar, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Michael Killian, 22 Ruan Combrinck

Stormers:
15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Nizaam Carr, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Gary van Aswegen, 22 Gerhard van den Heever
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