Nelis Nel to lead Pukke
No.8 Nelis Nel will lead FNB Pukke into battle against Vaal Reefs in Grand Challenge action this Saturday afternoon.
Pukke will travel to Orkney to take on Vaal Reefs without their regular skipper and star No.8 Willem van der Wal – but Nel is an experienced campaigner and used to the rigours of captaincy.
BG Uys, Wentsley Scott and Andrew van Wyk are all back on Under-21 duty, but at least coach Rudy Joubert (pictured) is able to call upon the services of veteran loosehead prop Jaco Koch – who is back to full fitness after missing the latter stages of the Varsity Cup.
Of course, Saturday’s clash is one of many matches used to determine which side will represent the Leopards region at the National Club Championships – at Tukkies – in September.
Varsity Cup finalists Pukke, as the defending National Club champions, will be hoping to represent their region once again and a win over Vaal Reefs will help them take a step closer to nailing down that all-important spot once more.
The Pukke team: 15 Worsie Kotzé, 14 Willem Barnard, 13 Trokkie de Kock, 12 John Roodt, 11 Johannes Seerane, 10 Cecil Dumont, 9 Andries Mahoney, 8 Nelis Nel (captain), 7 Savvas Nel, 6 Jaco Lötter, 5 Bones Robbertze, 4 Grant le Roux, 3 Stefan Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenhage, 1 Jaco Koch.
Replacements: 16 Deon Koen, 17 Snoepie Coetzee, 18 JP Potgieter, 19 Dirco Rautenbach, 20 Marcel du Toit, 21 Lola Waqa, 22 Schmiggel Viljoen.
