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Under-19s hope to set the tone

PUBLISHED: July 27, 2012


There are three matches taking place at DHL Newlands on Saturday. The first one – between DHL Western Province Under-19 and their Blue Bulls counterparts – could set the tone for the rest of the day.

And, according to DHL WP Under-19 coach Nazeem Adams, the Baby Disas would love nothing more than getting their union off to a winning start.

“It’s a huge weekend for rugby in the Cape,” said Adams, “we’re definitely looking to set the tone for the Stormers by starting with a win.”

The DHL WP U21 team is up after the Under-19s, before – of course – the Stormers entertain the Sharks in a mouth-watering Super Rugby semifinal.

All matches will boast some interesting match-ups and all three games will see some big packs go head-to-head.

“The Bulls are a big team… with a big pack,” agreed Adams. “They beat SWD (90-0) and the Lions (39-25) rather easily and we’re well aware of where their strengths are.

“But we’re happy where we are as a team. We started well with a (23-13) win over the Lions, which was a good confidence booster in terms of an away win. We’re obviously happy being at home, but we’re aware of how tough the Bulls will be.”

Prop Tshepo Motale’s serious knee injury remains a big blow for Adams and his coaching staff, but centre Johnny Kotze (shoulder) should be back on the field for DHL WP in the next four weeks.

“In rugby you tend to lose a guy and get a guy back (from injury)… all in the same week,” said Adams. “In terms of injuries we’re as happy as we could be, especially as we have (front rower) Etienne Swanepoel back from injury this week.”

The teams:

DHL Western Province Under-19: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Justin Geduld, 12 Janco Gunther, 11 Jean-Paul Lewis, 10 Tomasco Allan, 9 Jean Nel, 8 Justin Benn, 7 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Eital Bredenkamp, 5 Andrew Becker, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Nicol Heyns, 2 Frederick Kirsten, 1 Sti Sithole.
Replacements: 16 Brainton Booysen, 17 Etienne Swanepoel, 18 Niel Oelofse, 19 Christiaan Benade, 20 Michael Murphy, 21 Andre Warner, 22 Michael de Boer, 23 Selom Gavor.

Blue Bulls Under-19: 15 Jacques Rossouw, 14 Jason Kriel, 13 Juan Smit, 12 Dries Swanepoel, 11 Ruwellyn Isbell, 10 Francois Tredoux, 9 Kefentse Mahlo, 8 Nicolaas Immelman, 7 Ferdi Horn, 6 Roelof Smit, 5 Jacques du Plessis, 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Neethling Fouch, 2 Theuns Reynolds, 1 Justin Forwood.
Replacements: 16 Jacques Taylor, 17 Andrew Beerwinkel, 18 Clyde Davids, 19 Leneve Damens, 20 Tokkie Mtsweni, 21 Neil Meyer, 22 Wandi Sompontsha, 23 Jan Enslin.

Kick-off: 12.45pm
Referee: Rodney Bonaparte