Bothma to lead SA Schools
Western Province and Paarl Gim No.8 Rikus Bothma will lead the SA Schools team to face England in their opening International Under-18 Series clash in Cape Town on Friday.
The match-day squad features seven players who were part of the victorious SA Schools team last season. These players are the Du Preez twins, Daniel and Jean-Luc, Ox Nche, Justin Philips, Duhan van der Merwe, Warrik Gelant, Abongile Nonkontwana and Jurie Linde.
The squad boasts a fine balance of players from the traditional rugby schools in the country with Afrikaans Hoër Seuns (Affies), Outeniqua High School and Paarl Gimnasium each featuring three players.
The Paarl Gim duo of Bothma and Jacques Vermeulen, in particular, will rely on their familiarity with each other's style of play to make their presence felt in a quality loose trio, while the powerful tight five will be determined to dominate in the scrums against the settled England side.
Among the backs Philips' experience at this level and his effective distribution skills will be invaluable in guiding the team, while talented wings Grant Hermanus and Duhan van der Merwe both showed their ability to spot gaps and score tries at Craven Week, which could make them key figures on attack.
Looking ahead at the clash against England, October was optimistic about his team's chances of starting the series on a high note. He hoped the players would showcase their talent in what he anticipated would be a challenging clash.
"I was impressed with the players’ attitude at training this week and we expect them to transfer that onto the field," said October.
"But we are under no illusions about the challenge ahead. We do not know a lot about the teams we will be facing in the next few days, but we are aware of the fact that they come off a Six Nations campaign, so they have played a few matches together already.
"With regards to England specifically I chatted to their coach after last year's tournament and he mentioned that this year's team would have been together for three years, so they should be a cohesive unit.
"But that said, South Africans generally boast immense pride and we have worked hard to gel as a team, and I believe we have achieved that. There is no doubt this match is going to be tough, but we are looking forward to it," he added.
In the other matches Under-18 matches on Friday, Italy meet the Western Province Craven Week XV at 12.30 and France go up against Wales at 14.00.
SA Schools: 15 EW Viljoen (Grey College), 14 Grant Hermanus (Paarl Gim), 13 Warrik Gelant (Outeniqua), 12 Daniel du Plessis (Paul Roos), 11 Duhan van der Merwe (Outeniqua), 10 Brandon Thomson (Ermelo), 9 Justin Philips (Waterkloof), 8 Rikus Bothma (captain, Paarl Gim), 7 Jacques Vermeulen (Paarl Gim), 6 PJ Toerien (Garsfontein), 5 RG Snyman (Affies), 4 Daniel du Preez (Kearsney College), 3 Ruan Kramer (Grey College), 2 Joseph Dweba (Florida), 1 Ox Nche (Louis Botha).
Replacements: 16 Thomas du Toit (Paarl Boys High), 17 Francois Steyn (Affies), 18 Conrad van Vuuren (Nelspruit), 19 Abongile Nonkontwana (St Alban's College), 20 Jean-Luc du Preez (Kearsney College), 21 Marco van Vuuren (Transvalia), 22 Dewald Human (Outeniqua), 23 Jurie Linde (Affies).
Date: Friday, August 9
Venue: City Park Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 15.30 (13.30 GMT)
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Local
