DHL Western Province u/20 will host the Vodacom Bulls u/20 @ 12h00 today in Cape Town in a Round 4 SARU u/20 Championship match.. The Vodacom Bulls are with 12 log points the current leaders on the competition, 5 points more than their host, however, Vodacom Bulls played one more game than their hosts.
DHL Western Province has picked arguably their best pack of forwards to face the onslaught from the Bulls upfront. The inclusion of Simon Muller should go a long way to stop the dominance of the Bulls' loose forwards who dominated the battle on the ground and with the ball in hand. This battle should determine the winner between two of the possible semi-finalists.
Lock Simon Miller returns for DHL Western Province U20 in one of six changes to the starting line-up.
Miller joins captain Dylan de Leeuw in the second row for the North-South clash. There is also a new-look front row, with Rhynardt Rijnsburger back at loosehead prop, Keagan Blanckenberg at hooker and Corne Weilbacch starting at tighthead.
There are two changes to the backline, with centre Ethan James and wing Ebenezer Tshimanga both making their first starts of the campaign.
DHL Western Province U20 Head Coach Jerome Paarwater said that his team understands the magnitude of the challenge they are facing.
“The Vodacom Bulls U20 are on top of the standings, so we know that we will have to be at our best to get another win.
“Last week we performed well away from home to score 11 tries, but we will need to be switched on for 80 minutes at Newlands if we want to back that up with another win,” he said.
The Vodacom Bulls Under-20 side is bracing themselves for a tough SA Rugby Under-20 Championship encounter today.
Following their emphatic 56-8 victory over Toyota Free State U20 last weekend, the Tshwane-based side will go into the match with their tails up, hoping to retain their spot at the top of the log table.
The rivals from the Cape will be equally charged after they too claimed a powered 65-0 win over Eastern Province U20 a week ago.
Once again, the Vodacom Bulls U20 side will be led by Rynard Mouton as the captain.
Vodacom Bulls U20 head coach, Wessel du Plessis said: “The players showed what they are capable of with the dominant performance that was produced against the Toyota Free State U20 side last week. This week we have been working on improving even further on the things we did well while rectifying areas that need tweaking.
“It will be a tough match against DHL Western Province. They have also had some good performances, especial their result from last week. We expect them to come hard at us, and we will need to be equal to the task."
DHL WP u/20: 15 Duran Koevort, 14 Ebenezer Tshimanga, 13 Ethan James, 12 Ruben Labuschagne, 11 Rethabile Louw, 10 Sacha Mngomezulu, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Armand Maritz, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Romuald Ntumba, 5 Dylan De Leeuw (captain), 4 Simon Miller, 3 Corne Weilbach, 2 Keagan Blanckenberg, 1 Rhynardt Rijnsburger. Replacements (from): 16 Christian Lamprecht, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Matthew Coenraad, 19 Rhys Fulford, 20 HD Stemmet, 21 Liam Kloosman, 22 Cade Croy, 23 Hofmeyr Retief, 24 Javier Farmer, 25 Conwill Conradie, 26 Isaiah Wharton.
Vodacom Bulls u/20: 15. Jandre Burger, 14. Tharquin Manuel, 13. Canan Moodie, 12. Niel Beukes, 11. Bayanda Ngubane, 10. FC du Plessis, 9. Tiaan Fourie, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 7. Willie Potgieter, 6. Rynard Mouton (c), 5. Ruan Delport, 4. Raynard Roets, 3. Sebastian Lombard, 2. Keagan Potgieter, 1. Cebo Dhlamini. Replacements: 16. Gideon Serfontein, 17. Tielman Nieuwoudt, 18. Ntokozo Hlope, 19. Hardus Rothmann, 20. Chulumanco Mfakadolo, 21. Johan Muller, 22. Sonwabo Sokoyi, 23. Geraldo Flusk, 24. Eric Basson.