Preview: Duineveld v Upington
The mind games have already started for the big Classic Clash in Upington between HS Duineveld and HS Upington on Saturday.
Duineveld's coach Stefan van Wyk considers his side to be the underdog ahead of the encounter while his counterpart, Upington's Riaan Kotze believes the match will be tightly contested which will go down to the wire.
"We know Duineveld really well and we know they will look to dominate up-front but in matches like this where there is a big rivalry, anything can happen on the day. I think it will be a very tight match and the side who makes the most of the chances they create will be successful when that final whistle blows.
"We will look to play a complete game that utilises our forwards and backline but the key to our success will be the fun factor. There is already so much pressure on our shoulders and I hope the team does not forget to just have fun and enjoy the moment," Kotze said.
The matches over the years have been evenly contested, with games going down to the wire and there has been fairly little to choose between the sides.
"Generally, the matches have been really close and it does not matter what happened in the season thus far because both sides tend to raise their levels for the encounter.
"Fortunately for us, we have remained injury free. The team will be relatively young as the majority of them are in Grade 11 which is a positive for next year because they can now grow together and solidify themselves as a unit. We have done really well in our season thus far against some of the bigger schools and I am happy with where we are at the moment.
"Upington will know we have a strong pack of forwards, there's no secret there and we know their strength is their backline, so it is definitely going to be a very interesting game," van Wyk said.
In their five previous Classic Clashes, Duineveld have managed to claim four victories while Upington have managed to sneak in a victory of their own.
Teams:
HS Duineveld: 15 NJ Steyn, 14 Juan Barnard, 13 Jacques Page, 12 Adri Du Plessis, 11 Marno Els, 10 Ruan Mathews, 9 Etienne Le Roux, 8 Fourie van Zyl, 7 Erik Jordaan, 6 Ruan Visser, 5 Rudolf Oberholzer, 4 Adriaan Burger, 3 Stefan Hanekom, 2 Dolf Zandberg, 1 David Du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Juan Pretorius, 17 Stevan Botma, 18 Nelus Cronje, 19 Lovien Esterhuizen, 20 Thys Reynecke, 21 Earl Esau, 22 Hennie Goosen, 23 MC Grobbelaar.
HS Upington: 15 Benna Nieuwoudt, 14 Dirk Hanekom, 13 Dirkie Steenkamp, 12 Willrich Delie 11 Marcel vd Westhuizen, 10 Gert Rupping, 9 Jaco Zietsman, 8 Reinardt Hayes, 7 Dian Dry, 6 Gustav Loots, 5 Cobus Wiese, 4 Koos de Wet, 3 Teuns van Zyl, 2 Lumart vd Merwe, 1 Wynand Terblanche.
Replacements: TBC
Referee: Nico Schmahl
Assistant referees: Local
