Uys, Coetzee to prop up Pukke
FNB Pukke head coach Rudy Joubert has made two key changes to his team’s front row after this week’s 17-16 win over Shimlas; with BG Uys and Johan Coetzee named to start this coming Monday’s clash against UJ in Potchefstroom (kick-off 6.30pm).
Loosehead Uys and Coetzee (tighthead) were rewarded for their solid performances against Shimlas and will start the match ahead of Dewald Coetzee and Stefan Bezuidenhout, respectively.
Coetzee (Dewald) and Bezuidenhout will begin Monday’s fixture against the Men from Johannesburg on the bench.
Coach Rudy Joubert (pictured) was, however, again forced to make plenty of other changes to his starting XV due to an injury list that is slowly starting to grow… on a weekly basis.
Francois Robbertse replaces the injured Thabo Mamojele (Achilles) at No.8, whilst regular No.6 flanker Savvas Nel picked up a shoulder injury and has been replaced by Jaco Lötter on the side of the scrum.
In other changes, out wide, former Ikeys speedster Dane Johnson returns on the right-wing in the place of SP Marias, one of the try-scorers against Shimlas.
At inside centre there is an interesting change where Willem Barnard, normally a fullback, replaces Leopards Currie Cup flyhalf Cecil Dumond – who drops out of the matchday 23 altogether. Star inside centre Wouter Watermeyer remains on the injured list, however; hence the experiment with Barnard at No.12.
Edwin Hewitt (lock) and Jan Rose (flank), meanwhile, have been named on the bench – the first time they will be involved in the Pukke squad this season.
Meanwhile, Pukke skipper Dirco Rautenbach believes the Men from Potch are blessed to have so many talented props at their disposal – as last week’s substitutions proved when Uys and Johan Coetzee made such a huge difference against Shimlas.
Rautenbach explained: “People think our scrums improved because these two guys are better scrummagers.
“I think the secret is rather the good timing of the substitutions,” he told varsitycup.co.za.
“They are just as good as our props who started, but when they came on to the field at the start of the second half they scrummed against Shimlas two props that already had a tough first half under their belt.
“Not all teams have such a luxury; to send two fresh props on that can make such a big impact,” concluded the Pukke captain.
The FNB Pukke team: 15 Theuns Kotzé, 14 Dane Johnson, 13 Ruan Jacobs, 12 Willem Barnard, 11 Johannes Seerane, 10 Niell Jacobs, 9 Andries Mahoney, 8 Francois Robbertse, 7 Siya Mdaka, 6 Jaco Lötter, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Dirco Rautenbach (captain), 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Stoffel Duvenage, 1 BG Uys.
Replacements: 16 BW van Dyk, 17 Dewald Coetzee, 18 Edwin Hewitt, 19 Jan Rose, 20 Wensley Scott, 21 Andrew van Wyk, 22 SP Marias, 23 Stefan Bezuidenhout.
Head coach: Rudy Joubert
Date: Monday, February 22
Venue: Fanie du Toit Stadium
Kick-off: 6.30pm
Referee: Matt Kemp
By Ruan Bruwer
