Dobson's final league hurrah
Saturday afternoon’s WP Super League encounter at Durb-Bell will be FNB UCT head coach John Dobson’s final match in charge of the Ikey Tigers in this competition.
However, Dobson – who has done wonders with UCT, both in the league and the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International – will not be lost to the club altogether.
He explained: “Footey [Kevin Foote] was always going to take over for the 2010 league season, but when he went on rugby tour with Bishops after the Varsity Cup I decided to help out and got carried away a bit!
“It is time for Footey and Dave Wessels, both of whom are very promising young coaches, to take the step up and get their chance,” Dobson told varsitycup.co.za.
“(But) I won’t be far and I’ll be available to assist wherever needed. I will, of course, also stay involved as we plan towards the 2011 Varsity Cup.”
The Durb-Bell clash, a tricky encounter at the best of times – especially away from home, also signals the halfway mark in the 2010 WP Super League for UCT; the Ikeys at one stage having had a good chance of qualifying for the National Club Championships.
A crucial home loss to the Maties – who also beat them in the 2010 Varsity Cup Final – ultimately put paid to those Club Champs hopes, but a strong finish against Durb-Bell will set them up nicely for the second round of WP Super League fixtures.
Impressive young lock Don Armand will skipper the Cape Town students again, despite the return of fit-again loose forward (and regular captain) Nick Fenton-Wells, whilst youngster Matt Page gets a start at hooker and Matt Rosslee returns at inside centre.
Western Province and Stormers player Tiger Bax will pull the strings at flyhalf once again and his combination with Rosslee – in the crucial 10-12 axis – will be central to the Ikeys’ gameplan.
The FNB UCT team: 15 Marcel Brache, 14 Paul Cohen, 13 Mark Esterhuizen, 12 Matt Rosslee, 11 Marcello Sampson, 10 Tiger Bax, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Yaya Hartzenberg, 7 Jody Burch, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 Don Armand (captain), 4 Bodo Sieber, 3 Grant Kemp, 2 Matt Page, 1 Ash Wells.
Replacements: 16 Blake Pengelly, 17 Chris Heiberg, 18 Martin Muller, 19 André Goosen, 20 Sharief Hendricks, 21 Adrian Kritzinger, 22 TBC.
