No.8 Armand Maritz will captain DHL Western Province U20 as they begin their campaign against Cell C Sharks U20 in Durban on Saturday.

The coastal clash will kick-off at 13h00 on Saturday on KP2 at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban.

Maritz is one of 10 players in the starting line-up that featured in the DHL Western Province U20 side that made it to the final last year.

In the backline wings Luke Burger and Paschal Ekeji, centres Ethan James and Hofmeyr Retief and flyhalf Sacha Mngomezulu are all back after featuring last year.

Among the forwards, Maritz is joined by lock Connor Evans and the whole front row of props Corne Weilbach and Lamla Nunu and hooker Lukhnayo Vokozela for a second season in the team.

DHL Western Province Head Coach Labeeb Levy said that the continuity from last year will be helpful as they look to hit the ground running.

“It is always tough to start a campaign like this with fluency, but luckily many of these players know each other, so hopefully we will see the benefit of that.

“There is plenty of talent in this team and we are looking forward to seeing what they can do in a tough away match first-up,” he said.

DHL Western Province U20: 15 Bruce Campbell, 14 Luke Burger, 13 Ethan James, 12 Hofmeyr Retief, 11 Paschal Ekeji, 10 Sacha Mngomezulu, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Armand Maritz (captain), 7 Paul de Villiers, 6 Hendrik Sieberhagen, 5 Connor Evans, 4 Oliver Kurz, 3 Cornelius Weilbach, 2 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 1 Lamla Nunu.
Replacements: 16 Francois Breytenbach, 17 Yannick Marais, 18 Nande Moses, 19 Daniel Louw, 20 Jan-Daniel Cilliers, 21 FC Fourie, 22 Melbirt van der Spuy, 23 Masande Mtshali.