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Cape Town - The Western Force have announced their 23-man squad to take on the Melbourne Rebels in their Super Rugby clash at nib Stadium on Friday.
Wallaby hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau returns from national duties and will have Pek Cowan and Jermaine Ainsley beside him in the front row.
Adam Coleman is set to start in the second row and will captain the side for the first time and become the 13th Western Force captain.
Recent Wallaby debutant Richard Hardwick will start in the number seven jersey and link up with fellow local product Ross Haylett-Petty and Fijian excitement machine Isi Naisarani.
In the backline, speedster Chance Peni returns from a lengthy period on the sideline due to a groin injury and will be looking to pick up where he left off.
In the reserves, Brynard Stander comes into the side and will provide plenty of impact in the forward pack, while classy flyhalf Jono Lance is back after a broken hand and is set to play his 50th match of Super Rugby.
Western Force Head Coach Dave Wessels says that his team are ready for a fired-up Rebels squad and looks forward to an exciting game of rugby.
"It’s been great to have a few weeks of dedicated training time to work on our game. We’ve worked hard on elements of our set piece and bringing more variation to our attack.
"It looks like the rain is going to hold off on Friday so we’re looking forward to an exciting game from both sides."
Teams:
Western Force
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Chance Peni, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Bill Meakes, 11 Alex Newsome, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Michael Ruru, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 Richard Hardwick, 6 Ross Haylett-Petty, 5 Adam Coleman (captain), 4 Matt Philip, 3 Jermaine Ainsley, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Pek Cowan.
Substitutes: 16 Heath Tessmann, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Tetera Faulkner, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Jono Lance, 23 James Verity-Amm
Rebels
TBA
