Captain Wilkins returns for Maties
Wesley Wilkins will lead the FNB Maties into battle in their final league match of the 2009 Varsity Cup – against Tukkies at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch.
Wilkins missed his team’s last two league matches – against TUT and NMMU – but he is back in action for this last-round match against a Tuks side that needs a win to qualify for the semifinals of the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International.
Star flanker Wilkins replaces Chase Minnaar in the No.6 shirt in one of four changes to the Maties side that smashed NMMU 58-3 last Monday.
The other changes see Dabeon Draghoender replace Jéan Stemmet at inside centre, Erich Laubscher is in for Marinus Pretorius in the second row and Andrew Crausaz gets a start at tighthead prop ahead of Lourens Adriaanse.
Maties head coach Chean Roux has made some minor adjustments to his bench, with Michael Lockyer and Jean Rossouw providing front-row cover and Stemmet taking over the No.21 shirt from Draghoender.
Roux, speaking to varsitycup.co.za this week, was not concerned about last-minute semifinal permutations, preferring, instead, to focus on his own team’s goals and fortunes.
“We don’t look at games and worry about what our opponents need to do in order to qualify for the semifinals or not,” said the Maties mentor, “our individual and team goals come first. The rest will then take care of itself.”
FNB Maties (revised): 15 Adnaan Osman, 14 Wilhelm Loock, 13 Jéan Stemmet, 12 Dabeon Draghoender, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Jason de Villiers, 9 Donald Stevens, 8 Cameron Peverett, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Wesley Wilkins (captain), 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Erich Laubscher, 3 Andrew Crausaz, 2 Mathew Dobson, 1 Johan Roets.
Replacements: 16 Michael Lockyer, 17 Jean Rossouw, 18 Hugo Kloppers, 19 Morné Hanekom, 20 Johan Herbst, 21 Johan Sadie 22 Lwellyn Winkler.
Head coach: Chean Roux
Assistant coach: Warren Adams
Kick-off: Monday, March 16, 6.45pm, Danie Craven Stadium
