Venter to captain DHL WP Under-19s

Aug 13 • General News • 1805 Views • Comments Off on Venter to captain DHL WP Under-19s

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Inside centre Edrich Venter will captain the DHL Western Province Under-19 team against the Free State Cheetahs Under-19s at DHL Newlands on Saturday morning.

The DHL WP U19s will get Saturday’s provincial triple-header underway in Cape Town, with their match kicking-off at 10h45, ahead of two other games between Province and the Free Staters – at Under-21 and senior level.

“Free State’s Under-19s are yet to win a match this season,” said DHL WP Under-19 coach Nazeem Adams, “but that makes them dangerous, as they desperately need to win to keep their semifinal hopes alive.”

DHL WP’s U19 side will head into this match with a bonus point away win under their belts against the Leopards last weekend – but they have been battling a mini injury crisis up front this week, with regular skipper Jaco Coetzee (concussion) and fellow loose forward Mervano da Silva missing due to injuries and star lock Eduard Zandberg still sidelined with an injured calf muscle.

Adams told the www.wprugby.com website: “It’s little injury niggles… Jaco showed some (concussion) symptoms, so we didn’t want to risk him and Zandberg’s calf was initially meant to keep him out for a week (only), but now he is sitting out again this week.

“Thankfully we have a strong leadership group and our vice-captain Edrich (Venter) will no doubt step up as captain, so I am not worried in terms of leadership. I am just a bit disappointed that we can’t keep any form of continuity in our forward pack.

“That said, as always, I have faith in the guys that we have selected and I am sure we have the firepower required to secure the ball and give our dangerous backline a platform to attack from.”

Outside centre Eduan Keyter is one back who has enjoyed the opportunity to attack in recent weeks, which has seen the DHL WP Under-19s run in ten tries in their last two games.

However, coach Adams pointed out: “While scoring ten tries we have conceded seven, so we have worked hard on our defence this week. Our line-out play has also received some attention (this week), particularly our maul defence, so we have certainly addressed our shortcomings.

“I really think we have a backline that is capable of causing damage, but we need to be patient. This tournament is not a sprint, it’s a marathon and it’s a big three weeks for us – starting with the Cheetahs at home this week, then the Bulls (away) and the Cheetahs (also away), so we need to continue to do the basics right first.”

Match tickets, priced between R40 (for standing) and R60-R100 (for seats), can still be purchased ahead of the weekend – either online, at http://wprugby.computicket.com, or from Computicket outlets and Shoprite & Checkers stores nationwide.

The DHL WP Under-19 team for Saturday (v FS Cheetahs, home) is as follows:

15. Tiaan Swanepoel
14. Duncan Saal
13. Eduan Keyter
12. Edrich Venter (captain)
11. Edwill van der Merwe
10. Aidynn Cupido
9. Paul de Wet
8. Daniel Maree
7. Iver Aanhuizen
6. Saud Abrahams
5. Gary Porter
4. Jaco Willemse
3. Michael Kumbirai
2. Percy Mngadi
1. Edward Marais
Replacements:
16. Jacques van Zyl
17. Adriaan Geldenhuys
18. Jerome Korf
19. Human Bodenstein
20. Cornelius Oosthuizen
21. Herschel Jantjies
22. Justin Heunis
23. Gerard Pieterse
Referee: Rodney Boneparte