Captain's profile: Vaughen Isaacs
The flyhalf has recently returned from captaining the Under-18 Eastern Province Country Districts side at the 2016 Craven Week and believes a first victory in eight years is achievable.
"Oakdale has won the last seven encounters but this very young first team knows how to beat them. During our U16 year, we fared well against them," Isaacs said.
The young team he refers to, has developed well over the year when you consider that the majority of them are in their first year of representing the first XV.
"We have had mixed results this season and would have liked to perform better in certain games. However, as a team we have developed and learned a lot about the game and about ourselves.
"We have a group of young players in the sense that this is their first year as first team players. This will be our 14th game of the season, so most have built up a lot of experience throughout the season. Luckily all our first-choice players, who had injuries, have recovered and are ready to play," he added.
Isaacs' representative achievements started in 2010 when he represented EP's U12 side for two years before representing them for two years at the Grant Khomo Week (2014 and 2015). He was also the vice-captain of the 2015 team and ended up being selected into the SA U16 Elite Green Squad that same year.
"I learnt a lot from each opportunity and have learnt skills that I cannot only apply during the game, but also in my everyday life," he stated.
The 17-year-old has wisdom beyond his years and shared a special message for his team.
"I expect my team to play to the best of their ability, to keep the structure, to not let the pressure get to them and to play with Marlow pride. For some of us this is the second last game of the season and we want to make every minute count.
"It will depend on our performance on the day whether we can look back at this game with pride. The team must play with their full potential and play for each other," Isaacs said.
With a philosophy of "if I get up in the morning without a dream, I might as well stay in bed. Therefore, dream big, act big and the results will be big" – there is no doubt that his dreams of becoming a professional player and receiving his teaching degree is well within his grasp.
