Round 3 of the SARU u/21 will be played this weekend with the first match to be played at Emirates Airline Park when the Lions u/21 host DHL Western Province u/21 at 12h00 today.
The hosts are currently unbeaten after narrowly escaping a loss against the Leopards u/21 in Potchefstroom a week ago while their visitors will know that another loss could prove to be costly at the end of the season. DHL Western Province u/21 were surprisingly bullied by a dominating u/21 Vodacom Bulls pack of forwards in wet conditions in Stellenbosch.
Western Province u/21 selected a brand new tight five who were bullied by the Vodacom Bulls u/21 suggesting that they expect a big battle up front with their hosts. However, both teams have explosive backs which should see the match explode in an exciting match with both teams willing to spread the ball from anywhere at every opportunity. Therefore we expect an exciting and high scoring match.
Lions u/21 head coach Mziwakhe Nkosie named his lineup to play DHL Western Province 2021 with only three changes made to starting line-up which won against the Leopards u/21 in Potchefstroom a week ago.
Setshaba Mokoena is replaced by Zeilinga Strydom at fullback. Indiphile Tyeda is promoted from the bench to wing replacing Zeilinga. The third change at the back sees Bronson Mills replacing Jurich Claasens at flyhalf.
No changes were made upfront.
There are a number of changes to the DHL Western Province u/21 team. Captain Simon Miller’s team will be looking for their second win of the campaign.
Miller is the only player in the tight five who started the match against Vodacom Bulls u/21 in Paarl last week, with props Rhynhardt Rijnsburger and Matthew Coenraad, hooker Lukhanyo Vokozela and lock Edrich Viljoen all coming in.
There are also two new flanks in Armand Maritz and Paul de Villiers, while in the backline flyhalf Jonathan Roche and centre Philasande Ngcobo make their first starts of the season.
Head Coach Nazeem Adams said that while there were some challenges around player availability this week, his team is focused on the task at hand.
“We want to make a big step-up from the standards we saw last week and the players are all motivated to do so.
“We know it will be a big challenge up in Johannesburg, but this team is determined to be as accurate as we can in all areas,’ he said.
Teams:
Lions u/21: 15. Zeilinga Strydom, 14. Boldwin Hansen, 13. Ngia Selengbe, 12. Tyler Bocks (c), 11. Indiphile Tyeda, 10. B Mills, 9. Nico Steyn, 8. Jarod Cairns, 7. Izan Esterhuizen, 6. Renzo Du Plessis, 5. Connor Van Buuren, 4. Ruan Delport, 3. Kabous Bezuidenhout, 2. Jacques-lois du Toit, 1. Heiko Pohlmann. Replacements: 16. Ricardo Fourie, 17. Okuhle Siyeni, 18. S Shongwe, 19. Tiaan Wessels, 20. Siyemukela Ndlovu, 21. S Horn, 22. S Mokoena, 23. Josh Jonas.
DHL Western Province u/21: 15 Duran Koevort, 14 Ebenezer Tshimanga, 13 Philasande Ngcobo, 12 Ruben Labuschagne, 11 Paschal Ekeji, 10 Jonathan Roche, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Arman Maritz, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Simon Miller (captain), 4 Edrich Viljoen, 3 Matthew Coenraad, 2 Lukhanyo Vokozela, 1 Rhynhardt Rijnsburger. Replacements: 16 Keagan Blanckenberg, 17 Lamla Nunu, 18 Bryan le Roux, 19 Dian Basson, 20 Romuald Ntumba, 21 Conwill Conradie, 22 Jaque Rosseau, 23 Bruce Campbell.
