Varsity Cup preview: Round Two
The second round of the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International gets underway this Monday and two matches – in particular – will be worth keeping an eye on.
The first of the two fixtures sees FNB UCT host FNB NWU-Pukke in Cape Town – in a repeat of the 2008 and 2009 semifinals, at this very venue; UCT’s notorious Green Mile.
The Ikeys will think they owe Pukke one after last season’s semifinal loss, when the visitors upstaged the Capetonians 19-17 to progress to the final where they eventually went down 6-11 to the Maties. But matches between the Ikeys and Pukke are always tough contests; in fact, the biggest winning margin has been six just points between these two sides, ironically the first time they met in the Varsity Cup – Pukke winning 23-17.
Since then, UCT went on to beat Pukke 32-31 (in their dramatic 2008 semifinal meeting), before the Men from Potch gained revenge twice last year – at home and away, the latter, of course, being the semifinal in Cape Town.
“History is not a big thing for us – it’s about next week’s game… and getting over the disappointment of the Shimlas match,” said Ikeys coach John Dobson.
“Win or lose our games against Pukke have always been tight – I think the winner has never won by more than four or five points – so I am expecting another dog-fight against a quality team.”
The other match worth paying special attention to on Monday is the ‘Jukskei’ derby between Tuks and UJ – as the Blue Bulls take on the Lions in Pretoria.
UJ will confident heading into this match, and rightly so after their impressive win over a fired-up TUT team last week, whilst Tuks will be under pressure to win at home, having lost at this very venue (the Tukkies Athletics Stadium) last week.
Tuks went down 24-35 against Pukke – despite a spirited comeback from them – but they have a huge injury list this week with winger Aaron Denenga (ankle), Dirk Dippenaar (right-wing, groin), Ignick Windvogel (scrumhalf, ankle), Warwick Tecklenberg (flank, torn knee ligaments), Marius Oosthuizen (flank, spider bite) and Francois van Wyk (lock, ankle) all missing out on selection due to their various niggles.
Elsewhere, in the Varsity Cup, Shimlas will be looking for a first win – after their 30-30 draw against UCT last Monday – when they host NMMU in Bloemfontein, whilst the Maties juggernaut will be looking to roll on when they host the TUT Vikings in the last (and latest) game of the day at 7.30pm in Stellenbosch.
Maties head coach Chean Roux has made a number of changes to his forwards pack, after their 68-20 demolition of NMMU last week, but it is worth keeping an eye on his star-studded backs division which is unchanged and includes talented youngsters like Jurgen Visser, Hayden Groepes and Conrad Hoffman.
Hoffman will start in the No.9 shirt again, as he did last week, and his best position could well be flyhalf… watch him move there on Monday night and no doubt torment the tiring TUT defence in the process.
Looking ahead to the TUT clash, Roux told varsitycup.co.za this week: “TUT won’t be pushovers. I thought they were full value against UJ last Monday, and probably deserved better than the score suggests, but I think those two breakaway tries shocked them a bit early on.
“We had a tough time against them last year, even though it was away, and I’m preparing my guys for a tough match come Monday!”
Aside from keeping an eye on Hoffman and the rest of the dangerous Maties backs division, the Shimlas forwards also showed against the Ikeys that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season – most notably hooker PW van Vuuren and flanker Hanno Pieterse.
Other players to watch out for in Week Two are UJ fullback Earl Lewis – who will no doubt get more game time from the bench as he builds up to full fitness – UCT’s Yaya Hartzenberg, in his first-ever Varsity Cup start, and the ‘Terrible Two’, Pukke’s inside back twins, Niell and Ruan Jacobs.
The fixtures and team line-ups for Monday, February 8, 2010:
FNB UCT v FNB Pukke, Groote Schuur
Kick-off: 4.30pm (Live on SuperSport One)
Referee: Dilbert November
The teams:
UCT: 15 Therlow Pietersen, 14 Marcello Sampson, 13 Marcel Brache, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 Pete Haw, 10 Matt Rosslee, 9 Stu Commins (vice-captain), 8 JJ Gagiano, 7 Yaya Hartzenberg, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells (captain), 5 Martin Muller, 4 Don Armand, 3 Grant Kemp, 2 Dayne Jans, 1 Ash Wells.
Replacements: 16 Mark Goosen, 17 Chris Heidberg, 18 Greg Mallett, 19 Levi Odendaal, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Sean van Tonder, 22 Douglas Mallett, 23 Wes Chetty.
Pukke: 15 Theuns Kotze, 14 Dane Johnson, 13 Ruan Jacobs, 12 Wouter Watermeyer, 11 Andrew van Wyk, 10 Niell Jacobs, 9 Andries Mahoney, 8 Thabo Molete, 7 Jaco Lötter, 6 Savvas Nel, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Dirco Rautenbach, 3 Stephanus Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenage, 1 Dewald Coetzee.
Replacements: 16 BW van Dyk, 17 BG Uys, 18 Francois Robbertse, 19 Siya Mdaka, 20 Cecil Dumond, 21 Wenstley Scott, 22 SP Marias, 23 Johan Coetzee.
FNB Tuks v FNB UJ, Tukkies Athletics Stadium
Kick-off: 6.30pm
Referee: François Veldsman
The teams:
Tuks: 15 Gert Smith, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Ernie Kruger, 12 Franco Booysen, 11 Justin van Staden, 10 Shaun Davids (captain), 9 Wesleigh Marais, 8 Marius Weber, 7 Devon Oosthuizen, 6 Lourens Lombaardt, 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Tiaan Nel, 3 Hein Viljoen, 2 Chris Crous, 1 Musa Tukela.
Replacements: 16 AJ le Roux, Ettienne Breytenbach, 18 Joe Walters, 19 Oswin Mentoor, 20 Stanley Twiname, 21 Donovan Marais, 22 Tendai Chikukwa, 23 Danie Oosthuizen.
UJ: 15 Aubrey MacDonald, 14 Edrich van Tonder, 13 Clinton de Klerk (captain), 12 Luan Steenkamp, 11 Lola Waka, 10 André Smith, 9 Danny Botha, 8 Quinten Minnaar, 7 Wendell Wehr, 6 Justin Wheeler, 5 Marnus van Huyssteen, 4 Martin Lombard, 3 Wayne Swart, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Charl du Plessis.
Replacements: 16 Brett Claassens, 17 JP Olivier, 18 David Bulbring, 19 JP Janse van Rensburg, 20 Jacques Pretorius, 21 Ryno Luus, 22 Earl Lewis, 23 Jaco Claassen.
FNB Shimlas v FNB NMMU, Xerox Shimlas Park
Kick-off: 6.30pm (Live on SuperSport One)
Referee: Luke Burger
The teams:
Shimlas: 15 George Whitehead, 14 Divandré Strydom, 13 Earl Snyman, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 Rashied Isaacs, 10 Reinhardt Erwee, 9 Jaco Colyn, 8 Boom Prinsloo, 7 Willie Britz, 6 Hanno Pieterse, 5 Henjo van Niekerk, 4 Joubert Horn, 3 Vaatjie Koorsen, 2 PW van Vuuren, 1 Charles Marais.
Replacements: 16 Gert Erasmus, 17 Ian Potgieter,18 Lebo Zietsman, 19 Pieter Labuschagné, 20 Marlin Ruiters, 21 Beast Ndwandwa, 22 Johan van Schalkwyk, 23 James Hellawell.
NMMU: 15 Aluzant Munnik, 14 Oscar Mazaka, 13 Williams Heydenrych, 12 Wade Roos, 11 Darryl Turner, 10 Willem Laubscher, 9 Luso Booi (captain), 8 JP Kellerman, 7 Ferdie Gerber, 6 Samuel Borsaah, 5 Jannie Fourie, 4 Mathew Lutge, 3 Pierre Hammand, 2 Hugo Lampbrechts, 1 Tyron Willams.
Replacements: 16 Werner Kapp, 17 Chariel van Jaarsveld, 18 De Wet De Lange, 19 Kemsley Wesso, 20 Hugo van Heerden, 21 Phiwe Lallendle, 22 Ivan Cowley, 23 Chris Dicks.
FNB Maties v FNB TUT, Danie Craven Stadium
Kick-off: 7.30pm
Referee: Matt Kemp
The teams:
Maties: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Dabeon Draghoender, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 Hayden Groepes, 9 Conrad Hoffman, 8 Tertius Daniller, 7 Jonathan Adendorf, 6 Sam Mabombo, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Andrew Prior, 3 Lourens Adriaanse (captain), 2 Matthew Dobson, 1 Johan Roets.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Crausaz, 17 Mike De Neuilly-Rice, 18 Marinus Pretorius, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Johan Herbst, 21 Stephan van der Merwe, 22 Jonathan Francke, 23 Buhle Mxunuywa.
TUT: 15 Hansie Graaff, 14 Johan Swartz, 13 Jaco Oosthuizen, 12 Lutho Nyeka, 11 Thabo Motau, 10 Jacques Venter, 9 Nico van Zyl, 8 Wikus Botes, 7 Emile Verster (captain), 6 Alfred Khoza, 5 Werner Lourens, 4 Johan Steenkamp, 3 Braam van der Merwe, 2 Dean Muir, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Eugene Cunha, 17 Juan Pike, 18 Dewald van Deventer, 19 Ryno Lopes, 20 Manny Raposo, 21 Felix Godlo, 22 Henk de Ridder, 23 Johann Visser.
