DHL WP Women aiming for perfect season

Sep 5 • General News, National, South Africa, Womens Rugby • 1413 Views • Comments Off on DHL WP Women aiming for perfect season

DHL Western Province will be looking to make it an unbeaten season and their third straight national title when they face Border in the SA Rugby Women’s Interprovincial final at City Park on Saturday.

Having won the last two years against the same opponents in East London, DHL Western Province will be on home turf as they aim for a hat-trick of titles in a game that kicks off at 15h00 on Saturday.

They will, however, face tough competition against Border – who edged their way into the final in the closing pool round – in what marks the fourth successive final between the sides, although this is the first one in Cape Town.

With a clean-sweep of wins in their five matches leading up to the final to only three wins by Border, DHL Western Province may have a mental edge going into the clash, but the narrow margins between the sides on attack and defence in the pool stages indicate that it could be a tightly-fought affair.

The home side scored 26 tries to Border’s 22 and conceded 10 to their Eastern Cape rivals’ 11, and to spice things up even more, DHL Western Province edged through for a narrow 22-21 victory in their pool match in Cape Town earlier this season.

In the last two finals, DHL Western Province won by six and two points respectively, while no more than nine points separated the teams on the scoreboard in their round-robin matches in the last two seasons, meaning it could be an epic clash.

The Xerox Golden Lions, meanwhile, will take on SWD in the B Section final, which will be played at 13h00 as a curtain-raiser to the main final, which kicks off at 15h00, with entry at City Park R10 per person.

DHL Western Province Head Coach Laurian Johannes said that her team is looking forward to the challenge of a home final.

“We have worked incredibly hard this season to put ourselves in this position, so we are determined to make the most of it.

“Our focus will be to be as accurate as possible in all that we do on Saturday and give absolutely everything until the final whistle,” she said.

DHL Western Province Women:
15 Vuyolwethu Maqholo, 14 Kimico Manuel, 13 Shanique Hess, 12 Selladean Pietersen, 11 Courtney Groener, 10 Kirsten Conrad, 9 Felicia Jacobs, 8 Charmaine Kayser, 7 Nokubonga Siko, 6 Lihle Mzimkhulu, 5 Azisa Mkiva, 4 Zandiswa Xozwa, 3 Bubele Caku-Caku, 2 Roseline Botes , 1 Babalwa Latsha.

Replacements:
16 Annique Geswind, 17 Anelisa Nzuzo, 18 Yonella Pokolo, 19 Banele Makwezela, 20 Alicia Willemse, 21 Megan Kannemeyer, 22 Mtshazi Sesethu.