A lot has been written about the youth policy in the DHL Western Province team, but just how young was the side that beat the Blue Bulls42-6 on Saturday?

Well, for starters, six players in the matchday 22 are still eligible for the DHL WP Under-21 side, with four of those players having started the season in the U21 ranks.

Of the players in action at the weekend, there was just one player over the age of 30 (Deon Carstens – 33) in the group, with Gio Aplon the second oldest in the squad at 29 years of age.

Overall, the 22-man squad boasted an average age of 23 per player, with the starting XV more ‘experienced’ at an average age of 24. (Take out Aplon and Carstens and both averages drop by roughly a year.)

There were five try-scorers on Saturday, Nic Groom (22), Deon Fourie (25), Marcel Brache (24), Damian de Allende (20) and JP du Plessis (21), with Demetri Catrakilis (23) adding 17 points via his boot. Thus, the points-scorers were, on average, 22.5 years old – just below the overall matchday squad average of 23.

It does take guts for the coaching staff to use the younger players at their disposal, whilst praise must also go to John Dobson (DHL WP Under-21 coach) and Nazeem Adams (DHL WP Under-19 coach) for continuing to produce players capable of playing senior rugby at a young age. Of course, do not forget the WP Rugby Institute in Stellenbosch which continues to churn out quality players on an annual basis.

One such player is hooker Siyabonga ‘Scarra’ Ntubeni – who graduated from the WP Rugby Institute at the end of 2010, along with his great mate Siya Kolisi (21) and new Springbok Eben Etzebeth (20); both of whom are still eligible for the WP U21 team this year, along with props Steven Kitshoff (20) and Frans Malherbe (21).

“There’s so much belief in the camp,” enthused Ntubeni, after walking off with the Absa Currie Cup Man of the Match Award in his first start at this level.

“But the coaches have also always remained positive; they still believed in us even when we didn’t perhaps reward them with results. There are six of us U21 players in the team and the coach backs us all.”

A study in age – the DHL WP team (vs Vodacom Blue Bulls):
(Players’ ages in brackets.)

15. Gio Aplon (29 years old)
14. Gerhard van den Heever (23)
13. JP du Plessis (21)
12. Marcel Brache (24)
11. Ederies Arendse (24)
10. Demetri Catrakilis (23)
9. Dewaldt Duvenage (24)
8. Jebb Sinclair (25)
7. Rynhardt Elstadt (22)
6. Deon Fourie (captain – 25)
5. De Kock Steenkamp (25)
4. Don Armand (23)
3. Frans Malherbe (21)
2. Siyabonga Ntubeni (21)
1. Deon Carstens (33)

RESERVES:
16. Steven Kitshoff (20)
17. Brok Harris (27)
18. Wilhelm van der Sluys (20)
19. Helmut Lehmann (21)
20. Nic Groom (22)
21. Damian de Allende (20)
22. Kurt Coleman (22)

* Average age of the DHL WP starting XV (vs Bulls): 24

* Average age of the DHL WP matchday squad (vs Bulls): 23