Ackermann surprises with Coetzee
Comments
0
Johan Ackermann has made another bold selection at flyhalf with Andries Coetzee coming in due to a number of injuries at the pivot position.
The Lions travel to Port Elizabeth on Saturday to take on the Eastern Province Kings.
Having lost Springbok flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff to a fractured arm – suffered against the Blue Bulls in Round One – Ackermann then lost his back-up, former South African Schools pivot Jaco van der Walt, to a knee injury in the following round.
Last week against Western Province the Lions mentor experimented with midfielder Nicolaas Hanekom in the No.10 jersey, but has opted to move him back to centre – with Coetzee, who has played flyhalf before, coming into the No.10 channel.
The decision means Ruan Combrinck will start at his preferred position of fullback and Lionel Mapoe will run out at right wing.
Alwyn Hollenbach returns from injury and will start alongside Hanekom in the midfield.
In the forwards, the Golden Lions welcome back captain Warren Whiteley at No.8.
In a revamped loose trio Jaco Kriel will start at No.6 and Warwick Tecklenburg on the other flank.
In the front row, Armand van der Merwe will start at hooker and Robbie CXoetzee drops down to the replacement bench.
Speaking to rugby365 ahead of the trip to PE, Ackerman confirmeds that everybody that played against WP last week came through unscathed.
"Jaco [van der Walt] is recovering very nicely," Ackermann said, adding that the young flyhalf used Monday and Tuesday to increase his running volume and then went through a contact session Thursday.
It was felt he should be 'rested' another week.
"We looked at the dynamics about which positions are covered and what we needed on the bench," Ackermann said.
"The outcome of the fitness test by Jaco [van der Walt] had an influence on the rest of the backline make-up," he added.
Golden Lions: 15 Ruan Combrinck, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Nicolaas Hanekom, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Andries Coetzee, 9 Ross Cronje, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Armand van der Merwe, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Willie Britz, 19 Derick Minnie, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Ricky Schroeder, 22 Howard Mnisi.
Date: Saturday, August 30
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kick-off: 19.10 (17.10 GMT)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Francois Pretorius, Lusanda Jam
TMO: Jason Jaftha
ADVERTISEMENT
