Varsity Cup News
UJ unchanged for Craven showdown
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- Created on Friday, 23 March 2012 13:45
FNB UJ have announced an unchanged line-up for Monday's Varsity Cup semifinal showdown against the FNB Maties in Coetzenburg, but they could still make a few late alterations ahead of the 5.30pm kick-off.
Starting hooker Francois du Toit and replacements Ruan Dreyer (prop) and Jaco Kriel (flank) are playing for the Golden Lions in the Vodacom Cup on Saturday and it could affect their participation on Monday.
"We'll see how much game time they get and treat each case individually and on its own merits," explained UJ coach Hugo van As to the official Varsity Cup website.
"They're all key members of our team and we'd like them to be involved, but it would very unfair to expect a guy to play on a Monday after playing 50 or 60 minutes on a Saturday."
The return of Dreyer and Kriel to the UJ bench sees Njabulo Mkize and RJ Liebenberg drop out, but UJ's boss has resisted any other major changes ahead of their second successive Varsity Cup semifinal - the Men in Orange having lost at home to FNB UP-Tuks last year.
Said Van As: "There's no need to make any massive changes ahead of a semifinal - what's worked between rounds one and seven has been good enough to get us here.
"Sure, it's a big game and semifinals are games of taking one's chances... but it's not for us as coaches to remind the players how big the game is, they will know themselves."
UJ and the Maties drew 10-10 in an exciting last-round league fixture last Monday, whilst UJ recorded a massive 39-19 win the last time they faced the Maties on their own soil in last year's Varsity Cup.
The FNB UJ team: 15 Worsie Kotze, 14 JR Esterhuizen, 13 Justin St. Jerry, 12 Luan Steenkamp, 11 Chrysander Botha, 10 Guy Cronjé, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Justin Wheeler (captain), 7 Wendal Wehr, 6 Johan van Deventer, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Marnus van Huyssteen, 3 Heinrich Terblanche, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Wessel du Rand.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Ruan Dreyer, 18 Shane Kirkwood, 19 Jaco Kriel, 20 Jacques Pretorius, 21 Divan van Zyl, 22 Aubrey McDonald, 23 Jaco Vermeulen.
Head coach: Hugo van As
Date: Monday, March 26
Venue: Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
Kick-off: 5.30pm (Live on SuperSport One)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Marc van Zyl
TMO: JC Fortuin, Deon van Blommestein
