Eastern Province u/20 will host the Vodacom Bulls u/20 @ 11h00 today in Despatch at the WJ de Wet Stadium. The Vodacom Bulls have a bye in the final round of the SARU u/20 Championship.
The Vodacom Bulls will/should book their place in the playoffs of the SARU u/20 Championship with a win this weekend. The Vodacom Bulls are currently placed first on the log, however, they have played one more game than the chasing pack.
The Vodacom Bulls comes off a convincing win against the Leopards (39-17) last weekend. The Leopards demolished the hosts, Eastern Province u/20 with 91-06 in Round 4 of the competition. Eastern Province has a bye last weekend during Round 5.
The Vodacom Bulls Under-20 side has made a handful of changes ahead of their travel to Despatch.
In the backline, the only changes were made to #10 and #9. Jacobus Burger (#10) and Rowan Cloete (#9) replaces FC du Plessis and Tiaan Fourie respectively.
Regular Captain Rynard Mouton earned a well-deserved rest and is replaced by the excitingWillie Potgieter who joins Eric Basson, who will start his first match for the Vodacom Bulls.
Nolan Pienaar (#3) and Tielman Nieuwoudt (#1) forms an almost new frontrow with hooker Enrique Coutriers the only survivor.
Du Plessis said ahead of the match: “Throughout the campaign, we have had an intention to utilise our squad depth effectively. We are privileged that we can rotate our squad without interfering with our continuity.
“Facing Eastern Province U20’s in their backyard with not be an easy task. We expect them to come out to compete, so we will need to be on our guard. The key for us will be to continue working towards executing that perfect game, and that will require us to polish certain areas of our game with the intention of having minimal errors.”
At the time of this article, Eastern Province did not name their team yet.
Vodacom Bulls u/20: 15. Niel Beukes, 14. Tharquin Manuel, 13. Canan Moodie, 12. Carlton Banies, 11. Bayanda Ngubane, 10. Jacobus Burger, 9. Rowan Cloete, 8. Cameron Hanekom, 7. Willie Potgieter, 6. Eric Basson, 5. Tiaan de Klerk, 4. Raynard Roets, 3. Nolan Pienaar, 2. Enrique Courtiers, 1. Tielman Nieuwoudt. Replacements: 16. Reuben van der Nest, 17. Cebolenkosi Dlamini, 18. Ntokozo Hlope, 19. Marco de Witt, 20. Chulumanco Mfakadolo, 21. Tiaan Fourie, 22. Sonwabo Sokoyi, 23. Geraldo Flusk, 24. Tshimo Mogale.
Eastern Province: TBA