Defence the focus for DHL WP Under-19s

Aug 26 • General News • 1585 Views • Comments Off on Defence the focus for DHL WP Under-19s

Defeats are never easy to deal with. But DHL Western Province Under-19 coach Nazeem Adams took a measured approach in dealing with his team’s 32-41 loss to the Blue Bulls in Pretoria last weekend.

And for that reason, Adams believes his charges can bounce back this coming Friday when they face up to the Free State Cheetahs’ Under-19s in Bloemfontein at 15h00.

He told the wprugby.com website: “We’re still positive, we’re not about to hit the panic button after losing a game that basically slipped away from us in the opening 20 minutes.

“After going behind by 20 points in the first quarter we were always chasing the game. Our exits were poor, our defence was not good and we lost a player to a yellow card which saw us concede 13 points (when we were down a player).

“I thought we did well to come back, after finishing the first half strongly and starting the second half with some decent momentum, but, really, we were always chasing the game after that poor start and that’s what cost us.”

According to Adams the focus this week has been on defence, saying: “We’re a team that can score tries, I’ve always said that. But it doesn’t help scoring three or four tries and conceding five.

“It cost us last weekend and very nearly cost us the week before in the wet against the selfsame Cheetahs.

“I really do believe that this team has what it takes to win the 2015 Absa Provincial Under-19 title, but we need to ensure that our defence is up to it and that it compliments our attack,” he added.

In team news this week, hooker Ruan Brits, an 11th hour starting replacement for Percy Mngadi against the Bulls, continues in the No.2 shirt, whilst Jerome Korf gets a run at loosehead prop in place of the injured Derrick Marais.

“Although (flanks) Saud Abrahams and Mervano da Silva are both still out injured, (lock) Eduard Zandberg came through the Bulls game well,” said Adams.

“We have some continuity in our team (from last weekend), which is a positive in itself and will put us in good stead against a Free State team that is on the up and enjoys attacking, as we saw when we played against them at DHL Newlands two weeks ago.”

The DHL WP Under-19 team for Friday (v FS Cheetahs, away) is as follows:

15. Tiaan Swanepoel
14. Duncan Saal
13. Eduan Keyter
12. Edrich Venter (vice-captain)
11. Edwill van der Merwe
10. Aidynn Cupido
9. Paul de Wet
8. Jaco Coetzee (captain)
7. Daniel Maree
6. Mitchell Carstens
5. Eduard Zandberg
4. Jaco Willemse
3. Michael Kumbirai
2. Ruan Brits
1. Jerome Korf
Replacements:
16. Jacques van Zyl
17. Adriaan Geldenhuys
18. Ruben Terblanche
19. Gary Porter
20. Iver Aanhuizen
21. Kuziwakwashe Kazembe
22. Justin Heunis
23. Gerard Pieterse
Referee: Pieter Maritz