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WP youngster on the rise in Ireland

Cape Town - Western Province back Pat Howard has impressed in his loan spell at Irish club Munster.

The talented centre/wing was loaned to the Irish province late last year to gain some valuable experience.

According to Netwerk24, the 22-year-old is slowly but surely making a name for himself in Ireland.

He is expected to return to the Stormers in the middle of February which means he will miss their first two Super Rugby games - against the Bulls (Pretoria, February 14) and Blues (Cape Town, February 21).

Gert Smal, WP's Director of Rugby, said they are happy with the progress Howard has made in Ireland.

"He's getting more game time and also getting time to play at outside centre. So we'll see how things unfold," said Smal.

Howard earlier told the Irish Independent he'd like to make enough of an impact at Munster in the hope of them offering him a contract, but Smal said the player hasn't informed him about extending his three-month stint overseas.

Howard made his Currie Cup debut for Western Province against the Free State Cheetahs in August 2012 and has made a total of 11 appearances in the competition - six coming last season when WP won their second Currie Cup title in three years.

In all, the 101kg outside back has played 20 matches for WP - at Vodacom and Currie Cup level - scoring a total of five tries.

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