Lewis to lead injury-hit DHL WP u21s

Sep 18 • General News • 2296 Views • Comments Off on Lewis to lead injury-hit DHL WP u21s

Photo: William Brown

Experienced junior backline star JP Lewis will captain the DHL Western Province Under-21 side against the Border Under-21s at City Park on Saturday (kick-off 12h45).

Regular wing Lewis will line up at outside centre in a much-changed side that did duty at Ellis Park last Saturday, with a host of injuries hampering the WP U21 team’s build-up this week.

DHL WP U21 coach John Dobson told wprugby.com: “JP is an experienced campaigner at this level – he first played for us in 2012 as an Under-19 player.

“He’s a popular and well respected member of this team and it’s a deserved opportunity for JP to showcase his leadership qualities.”

With Lewis at No.13 this week – in the absence of regular outside centre Johnny Kotze (Achilles Tendon) – Dalen Goliath will start on the left-wing, whilst Chris Smith and SP Ferreira will form a new-look halfback pairing as Robert du Preez and Jean Nel get a break.

Up front, injuries have ruled out regular skipper Eital Bredenkamp (shoulder), No.8 Carel du Preez (hamstring) and lock Jan Uys (shoulder), with Andreas Dercksen, Tapiwa Tsomondo and Justin Benn forming a new-look loose trio and Chad Solomon also getting a deserved start in the No.2 jersey.

“We sustained a few more injuries than we would have liked against the Lions in what turned out to be a very tough encounter. Again, I was disappointed by our late concession of tries – it’s twice against them that we have held good leads and let them slip, which is frustrating.

“We have no players returning this week, but luckily we have worked hard on our depth,” added Dobson.

“Chad Solomon deserves a start at hooker after some good form for his club and (scrumhalf) Jean Nel has carried a high workload and is battling with some niggles, so he gets the week off as we want to also look at both SP Ferreira and Jason Marcus.

“Robert du Preez was subject to a citing process and we had to prepare the team without him, but he has also had a very long season, so he is not being considered for this week either.”

The DHL WP Under-21s are currently in second place on the Absa Provincial U21 log. They trail the Lions by just three log points but do have a game in hand over their first-placed rivals.

“We want to end top of the log again and five points here are non-negotiable,” said Dobson, ahead of Saturday’s match-up with a Border side that has scored just 42 points and conceded 811 this year.

“Border have not had a good season and I am not going to talk them up but what we have to concentrate on are our own processes. We have to step up on defence, our exit plays and our line-out work, so will be looking for an improvement in our own execution in those facets of play.

“I want all the players on Saturday to show desire and pride for the WP jersey and to prove to us coaches that they need to be considered for selection come the business-end of the competition.”

* Both the DHL WP Under-19 and Under-21 teams will be in action at City Park on Saturday, along with the WP Club Rugby Top 6 semifinal matches.

2014 DHL Newlands season tickets are valid at City Park on Saturday but the general admission fee is R10 for adults, with kids under 12 entering for free.

City Park is based on the corner of Thornton and Lawson Roads in Crawford and easily accessible from the M5 and N2 freeways.

The DHL WP Under-21 team for Saturday (v Border at City Park) is as follows:

15. EW Viljoen
14. Lihleli Xoli
13. JP Lewis (captain)
12. Kyle Lombard
11. Dalen Goliath
10. Chris Smith
9. SP Ferreira
8. Andreas Dercksen
7. Tapiwa Tsomondo
6. Justin Benn
5. Sebastian Ferreira
4. Jurie van Vuuren
3. John Meyer
2. Chad Solomon
1. Sti Sithole

Replacements:
16. Michael Willemse
17. Wesley Adonis
18. Deacon Chowles
19. Alva Senderayi
20. Luke van der Smit
21. Jason Marcus
22. WJ Strydom

Referee: Archie Sehlako