Baby Shimlas lose Jordaan
Despite the fact that FNB Shimlas Young Guns captain Neill Jordaan is out for six weeks with injured knee ligaments, the Kovsies Under-20 side is ready for their first outing in Cape Town on Monday.
Jordaan was injured during the Young Guns' warm-up match against the Central University of Technology's (CUT) youngsters.
This leaves Niel Marais to captain the Shimla'tjies in their clash with the young UCT side. Even as a fullback, Marais leads from the front having scored against Vishuis during the youngsters' warm-up match on Tuesday.
The youngsters have also lost quite some depth recently. Twelve players who were initially in the Young Guns group had to withdraw due to their academic standards not being up to scratch.
Even so, coach Wessel du Plessis believes he has a winning side with players who will rock. Henco Venter (vice-captain and eighthman), Gerhard Olivier (flanker), Pieter Matthee (lock), Neil Marais, Raymond Rhule (outside centre) and Tertius Kruger (inside centre) are all players whom Du Plessis rely on.
SA Under-20 left-wing JJ de Klerk and scrumhalf Ke Ke Hlongwane also joined up with the Kovsies Youngsters this week after playing with the Baby Boks in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Du Plessis is planning for his youngsters to be on the attack at all times... whether the notorious Green Mile wind blows in their direction or not.
He said: "I won't approach this match in a conservative manner.
"We have to score tries and we don't want to play rugby in our own half. We will like to keep the ball, and play direct, offensive rugby.
"The wind at UCT's fields can be a problem. But up-wind I will keep the ball and down-wind we may kick it."
The Shimlas Young Guns team will play against their UCT counterparts at 3pm in Cape Town on Monday.
The Shimlas Young Guns team: 15 Niel Marais (captain), 14 Garneth Kock, 13 Raymond Rhule, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 JJ de Klerk, 10 Frans Botha, 9 Ke Ke Hlongwane, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Gerrit Olivier, 6 Tyrone Schultz, 5 Tinnie Burger, 4 Pieter Matthee, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Heinrich Els.
Replacements: 16 Wickus Deysel, 17 Chase Morrison, 18 Louis Moolman, 19 Shaun Ndinisa, 20 Renier Botha, 21 Jaco Fourie, 22 Josh Mogatle, 23 Arno van Damme.
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
By Stefan Lotter
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