Wits refreshed after break
FNB Wits slipped into second position on the Varsity Shield log after enjoying a bye in Round Four, with both CUT and UWC claiming home bonus-point wins against UFH and UKZN, respectively.
FNB CUT, the defending champions, moved back into first place on the log - with 13 points after three matches - with Wits and FNB UWC in second position on 10 points. Wits, however, have a slightly superior points' difference over their Cape Town counterparts.
In Round Five action next Monday (February 20), CUT will face up to UWC in Cape Town, whilst Wits will visit the winless FNB UKZN in Pietermaritzburg... hoping to get a full complement of five log points.
It is easier said than done, however. Although Wits recorded home and away wins over the Men from KZN last season, they are no easy-beats at home. (At the same time, meanwhile, Wits will be hoping for a draw between CUT and UWC in order to move back to the top of the log!)
Bad news hit Wits this week with their campaign captain, Rory Anderson (hooker), ruled out for five months as he has to undergo knee surgery. Anderson got injured in a warm-up match against FNB UP-Tuks in Pretoria back in January.
Wing Nkululeko Gamede will also be out for a couple of months after breaking his hand in the last match against UWC. Mandla Dube will replace Gamede in the squad and the two hookers, Tyrell Tintinger and Piers Cooper, who have been filling in for Anderson will have to do so for the remainder of Wits' Varsity Shield campaign.
Wits will have to turn to their game-breakers on Monday in the shape of winger Riaan Arends, scrumhalf Brent Crossley (pictured, above) and utility forward Charles Baggott to pull them through against UKZN. Other changes ahead of Monday will see centres Rudolf Prinsloo and Heinke Hartdegen coming into the starting line-up to replace Ryan Odendaal and Bronson Lange.
Can Wits do what UWC did to UKZN this past week, the home side having recorded a crushing 61-10 victory.
Only time will tell, but it would certainly put the Wits coaching staff in a more comfortable position and - depending on the outcome of the Cape Town clash - it could see them return to the summit of the Shield standings!
Monday's game against UKZN kicks-off at 7pm at Pietermaritzburg's Peter Booysen Sports Park.
By Quintin van Rooyen
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