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Cape Town - Hooker Scarra Ntubeni will captain Western Province in their pre-season match against Narbonne in Millau on Saturday.
The first encounter of Western Province's pre-season trip to France will see them face the Pro D2 outfit at the Parc des sports de Millau, with kick-off at 20:00 on Saturday.
Skipper Ntubeni will be joined in the front row by props Caylib Oosthuizen and Carlu Sadie, with the Ali Vermaak, Chad Solomon, Neethling Fouche and Michael Kumbirai all providing cover on the extended bench.
The second row will feature two former SA Schools and Junior Springbok captains in Ernst van Rhyn and Salmaan Moerat, who was a late addition to the touring group after being released from the Springbok training squad.
The loose trio will see flanks Chris Massyn and Johan du Toit link up with the powerful Juarno Augustus, with Kobus van Dyk and the versatile Ramone Samuels set to make an impact off the replacements bench.
In the backline Paul de Wet and Josh Stander form the halfback pairing, with Dan Kriel and SP Marais in midfield.
At the back Sergeal Petersen will make his first appearance for Western Province having fully recovered from injury, with Duncan Saal on the right wing and Craig Barry at fullback.
Backline cover on the extended replacements bench comes in the form of scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, Dillyn Leyds and JJ Engelbrecht.
Western Province head coach John Dobson said that having settled well in Millau, his team is looking forward to testing themselves against Narbonne.
"We are all looking forward to this match as it will give us a good chance to see where we are at against a quality side," he said.
"The preparations have gone well on and off the field, so we are hopeful that will translate into our performance on Saturday."
Teams:
Western Province
15 Craig Barry, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 SP Marais, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Sergeal Petersen, 10 Josh Stander, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Johan du Toit, 6 Chris Massyn, 5 Salmaan Moerat, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Scarra Ntubeni (captain), 1 Caylib Oosthuizen
Substitute: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Michael Kumbirai, 20 Ramone Samuels, 21 Kobus van Dyk, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Dillyn Leyds, 24 JJ Engelbrecht
Narbonne
TBA
