The DHL Western Province Under-19s will take on Border in a must-win Provincial Under-19 clash at the Buffalo City Municipal Stadium in East London on Friday morning (kick-off 11h00).
The WP juniors require a full-house of five points to keep their semifinal hopes alive after a tough Absa Provincial Under-19 campaign in 2013.
“In terms of that (keeping our semifinal hopes alive), we must win this match… and get the full five points on offer,” confirmed WP U19 coach Nazeem Adams.
“That said, I have not put my players under any unnecessary pressure to go out and score the four tries. If we win the match, hopefully that (four-try) bonus point will take care of itself.
“We've just come off a bye, so we've allowed some of our players with niggles to rest those injuries, but we are without a few players who, hopefully, will come back into the selection equation for those final two weeks.”
Regular captain Jan Uys is still out of action, after suffering from concussion, whilst fellow lock Sebastian Ferreira will miss the remainder of the season with an ACL injury.
Star loose forward Steven Meiring (hip pointer) takes a break this week to rest an ongoing injury, with Ruan Rossouw, Luke van der Smit and Ramone Samuels combining at loose forward. Samuels, as he did two weeks ago against the Blue Bulls, will lead the WP U19s.
Said Adams: “Ramone has done well for us at No.8 and as a leader last time out. We're a bit thin at lock without Jan and Sebastian, but Jan could be back in two weeks' time.
“We have had a tough season up till now, but I'm looking at this upcoming three-week period as a fresh start for us in terms of still being able to secure a semifinal spot,” added the WP Under-19 boss.
“The Leopards are five points ahead of us on the log at present, but we have a match in hand and we will go into our final league game (against the Sharks) next month knowing exactly what we need to do.
“That said, this weekend remains our only focus for now and we want the win and the four-try bonus to keep the pressure on the Leopards.”
The DHL Western Province Under-19 team to take on Border is as follows:
15. Jason Worrall
14. Dewald Naude
13. Jarryd Sage
12. Michal Haznar
11. Jason Morris
10. Chris Smith
9. Pieter Schoonraad
8. Ramone Samuels (captain)
7. Luke van der Smit
6. Ruan Rossouw
5. Sebastian Negri
4. Attie van Rensburg
3. Michael van Tonder
2. Chad Solomon
1. Wesley Adonis
Replacements:
16. Josh Moon
17. Liam Hendricks
18. Nathan Gogela
19. Janco Venter
20. Johan de Villiers
21. Jonty Breddell
22. Dalen Goliath
23. Shane Grundlingh
Referee: Eduan Nel
