Van Vuuren back for top-of-the-log Under-21 battle

Aug 21 • General News • 2568 Views • Comments Off on Van Vuuren back for top-of-the-log Under-21 battle

Star forward Jurie van Vuuren will make his first start of the 2014 Absa Provincial Under-21 season, when he lines up in the No.4 jersey for the DHL Western Province U21 side in Saturday’s top-of-the-log battle with the Golden Lions at DHL Newlands (kick-off 14h45).

Van Vuuren picked up a shoulder injury whilst on DHL Stormers duty in early May and, after undergoing surgery, made his return via the bench last week (in DHL WP’s 28-21 win over the Blue Bulls Under-21s).

His return, at the expense of Sebastian Ferreira in the No.4 shirt, is the only change to the Province Under-21 starting XV this week, with prop Niel Oelofse taking Van Vuuren’s spot on the bench.

DHL Western Province Under-21 coach John Dobson told www.wprugby.com: “We were lucky not to have any injuries from last week, so we have just tweaked things (a bit) by giving Jurie van Vuuren a start and adding a prop to the bench given that Sti Sithole has battled a bit with illness.”

WP and the Lions are the only unbeaten teams in the 2014 Absa Provincial Under-21 tournament, with the winner of Saturday’s fixture set to finish the first half of the season in first position.

Said Dobson: “It’s the correct set-up for the end of Round One – the two unbeaten teams going head-to-head. I think both sides like to give the ball some air and (both) would like to end the first round of fixtures in first place. It should be a cracker!

“The Lions have come on enormously in this age-group and took us deep into extra-time in last year’s memorable semifinal at DHL Newlands. Like their senior team, the Lions U21s play ‘total rugby’, with a good set-piece and a width (in their game) that presents a very different challenge to last week’s match against the Bulls.

“That said, we weren’t that happy with our performance last week. We were disappointed to miss out on the bonus point and our discipline let us down too. We, like our senior team, had a top referee in Marius van der Westhuizen to come in this week and help us particularly around the scrum penalties.”

Whilst the team has been working hard to eradicate any potential weaknesses in their game this week, the DHL WP Under-21s spent Thursday afternoon at the Heatherdale Children’s Home in Belgravia (a Child and Youth Care Centre) – a welcome escape away from rugby for the players.

“The guys loved the opportunity to meet the kids from Heatherdale, who seemed to enjoy having us around,” enthused Dobson.

“It was a real eye-opener for our young men to interact with the kids and it’s all part of making the DHL Western Province junior players better men – both on and off the field.”

* Saturday’s programme at DHL Newlands gets underway at 12h45, with the WP Under-19s in action against the Golden Lions U19s, before the WP Under-21 team takes on the Lions U21s at 14h45.

Of course, the main game this weekend is between DHL Western Province and the Xerox Golden Lions – a top-of-the-table Absa Currie Cup, Round Three clash – at 17h05.

Tickets for Saturday are priced from just R35 (for standing), whilst seating prices range between R55, R65, R75 and R95 and can be purchased right now from http://wprugby.ticketpros.co.za.

Match tickets can also be bought directly from the DHL Newlands Box Office (opening times this week: Tuesday-Friday, 09h00-16h00 and Saturday, 09h00-17h30), or from selected Western Cape Spar stores and PostNet branches (nationwide).

The DHL WP Under-21 team for Saturday (v Golden Lions) is as follows:

15. Justin Geduld
14. JP Lewis
13. Johnny Kotze
12. Kyle Lombard
11. Lihleli Xoli
10. Robert du Preez
9. Jean Nel
8. Sikhumbuzo Notshe
7. Jacques Vermeulen
6. Eital Bredenkamp (captain)
5. Jan Uys
4. Jurie van Vuuren
3. John Meyer
2. Michael Willemse
1. Sti Sithole

Replacements:
16. Michael Kennedy
17. Deacon Chowles
18. Niel Oelofse
19. Carel du Preez
20. Tapiwa Tsomondo
21. SP Ferreira
22. Janco Gunter

Referee: Christie du Preez