WP pick Craven Week team
The Western Province Craven Week team has been announced and includes six Paul Roos players, including scrumhalf Rick Schroeder, who will captain the team.
The 22-man squad reflects the dominance of the top schools in the region, with Paul Roos, Paarl Gim and Paarl Boy’s High contributing thirteen players to the Under-18 representative side. Bishops stars Sam Lane and Nizaam Carr made the cut, while Wynberg and Rondebosch have contributed one player each.
The skipper Schroeder will be making his second appearance in the Craven Week after representing WP last year.
The team management will be looking to him, as well as the other squad members with Craven Week experience such as Scottsdene’s Logan Solomans, Carr and Rondebosch’s Gareth Topkin to lead the new members of the squad into battle.
The WP team will face a stiff challenge this year, particularly from Free State, who will be made up predominantly of players from Grey College; currently the No.1 ranked school in the country on rugby365.com’s school Top 20.
The 2009 Craven Week takes place in early July in East London.
WP Craven Week squad: 15 Logan Solomons (Scottsdene), 14 Zingisa Ndiki (Wynberg Boys’ High), 13 Tshotsho Mbovane (Paul Roos Gymnasium), 12 JP du Plessis (Paul Roos Gymnasium), 11 JR Esterhuizen (Paarl Gymnasium), 10 William van Wyk (Paarl Gymnasium), 9 Rick Schroeder (Paul Roos Gymnasium, captain), 8 Christiaan Smith (Paarl Gymnasium), 7 Nizaam Carr (Bishops), 6 Heinrich Marcus (Excelsior), 5 Wilhelm van der Sluys (Paarl Boys’ High), 4 Eben Etzebeth (Tygerberg High), 3 Frans Malherbe (Paarl Boys’ High, vice captain), 2 Gareth Topkin (Rondebosch Boys’ High), 1 Adriaan Botha (Paarl Boys’ High), 16 Neil Rautenbach (Paarl Boys’ High), 17 Steven Kitshoff (Paul Roos Gymnasium), 18 Braam Steyn (Paul Roos Gymnasium), 19 Jodi Reyneke (Tygerberg High), 20 Jean Rossouw (Strand High), 21 Sam Lane (Bishops), 22 Craig Barry (Paul Roos Gymnasium),
