Captain's profile: Brandon Phillips

Woodridge College captain Brandon Phillips might only be 17-years-old, but has all the characteristics one would want as a leader and as a player on the rugby field.

 

Phillips, who is in his second year in the first team, will do everything possible to lift his team in their important Classic Clash against Humansdorp.

 

"It is a huge privilege and honour to be captain as my team voted for me and so I know that I have their full backing and support in everything that I do.

 

"I aim to lead by example, put my body on the line, encourage and motivate the team on the field and be able to say after each match that I tried my best. I also think it’s very important to get stuck in but stay focussed at the same time," said Phillips.

 

The scrumhalf knows what his strengths are as a player and will want to use it to the best of abilities against his opponents.

 

"I like to think that my kicking game out of hand is one of my strengths, my visual awareness and the ability to read the game are also a few things that I am confident in doing as a player," he said.

 

Woodridge have not beaten Humansdorp in Phillips’ time at the school and he is expecting another tough encounter come Saturday.

 

"From past experiences, I am expecting a very fast paced game where they won’t be scared to get the ball wide and try to exploit our backline. They will always be physical, but their pace is their main strength. 

 

"Humansdorp is a team that capitalises on the other teams errors, so if we keep our mistakes to a minimum, I’ll definitely back my team to put up a good fight and win," he added.

 

His message to his team this week is one that will surely get the competitive spirit out them.  

 

"The main message to the team is that we can’t afford to play catch up rugby. We need to get stuck in as soon as the first whistle goes. We need to keep to our game plan and our structures as much as possible and not get sucked into playing their style of rugby," he said

 

Phillips is still undecided on what he wants to study after school with his more immediate plan being to travel and play club rugby around Europe.