Adriaanse to skipper Maties
Tighthead prop Lourens Adriaanse will captain the FNB Maties in their 2010 Varsity Cup semifinal clash against the FNB NWU-Pukke on Monday night (kick-off 6.30pm).
Adriaanse, who started last week’s last-round league clash against the selfsame Pukke on the bench, takes over the No.3 jersey from Andrew Crausaz and the captaincy from Cameron Peverett.
Peverett, who just recently returned to the Maties starting XV, picked up an ankle injury against the Pukke and will miss Monday’s return clash. His loss is a huge blow to the back-to-back champions, as form No.8 Tertius Daniller is also out injured.
Whilst admitting that the losses of Peverett and Daniller were big blows, Maties coach Chean Roux told varsitycup.co.za: “As you can imagine, both Cameron and Tertius were dead-keen to play, but I left it up to both of them… and both admitted that they were not quite 100% fit.
“But – for me – it shows the spirit in this team, the guys don’t want to ‘drop’ their teammates by potentially breaking down early in the match – both of them made big decisions and credit to them.”
Barnstorming flanker Josh Strauss, who has been in impressive form of late, will wear the No.8 jersey on Monday, with Jonathan Adendorf and Sam Mabombo supporting him on the flanks against the Pukke.
“Cameron and Tertius are both specialist No.8s, so it’s a blow from that point of view, but a guy like Jonathan Adendorf has been around for three years now and Josh (Strauss) is a big unit and a good ball-carrier.
“I thought Josh was very good against the Pukke and Sam’s Mabombo work-rate has really impressed me this season,” added Roux. “He was still playing Under-19 rugby last year, so he’s stepped nicely this season.”
In other changes, meanwhile – all of which are unenforced, left-wing Tythan Adams, scrumhalf Johan Herbst, lock Andrew Prior and loosehead prop Mike De Neuilly-Rice all return to the Maties starting XV, with Jonathan Francke, Johan Laker, Marinus Pretorius and Johan Roets, respectively, reverting to the bench.
* Monday’s semifinal match-up, Stellenbosch’s third successive home Last Four match, is a repeat of the 2009 Varsity Cup Final – an encounter the Maties won 11-6 at the Danie Craven Stadium.
The Pukke beat the Men in Maroon in the 2008 league season – 31-24 in Potchefstroom – but the Maties have won all three clashes since then; including this past week’s 33-17 league victory in Potch and last year’s 31-10 league drubbing in Stellenbosch.
The FNB Maties team: 15 Adnaan Oesman, 14 Wilhelm Loock, 13 Danie Poolman, 12 Charl Weideman, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 André Kemp, 9 Johan Herbst, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Sam Mabombo, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Andrew Prior, 3 Lourens Adriaanse (captain), 2 Matthew Dobson, 1 Mike De Neuilly-Rice.
Replacements: 16 Gareth Light, 17 Johan Roets, 18 Marinus Pretorius, 19 Hannes van Wyk, 20 Johan Laker, 21 Hayden Groepes, 22 Jonathan Francke, 23 Andrew Crausaz.
Head coach: Chean Roux
Date: Monday, March 22
Venue: Danie Craven Stadium
Kick-off: 6.30pm (Live on SuperSport One)
Referee: Dilbert November
By Howard Kahn
