Ryan Felix’s men will go into this game with a bit of pressure following two losses in the past two weeks that have threatened to derail their campaign. The boys who suffered a shock loss to SWD two weeks ago at home traveled to the Western Cape to take on the Boland u19 last week. They lost narrowly by 26-24 to the home team, but the Kings juniors were able to secure 2 bonus points for finish within 7 points and scored 4 tries on the day.
The Eastern Province men currently sit 3rd on the log with 17 points, 8 behind the leaders the Valke, who they take on tomorrow at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The coaches made a number of changes to the starting XV and on the bench for the clash against the Valke, with plenty of schoolboys coming back into the mix after the completion of matric preliminary exams.
The consistency with the props in the front row continues with Lyle Lombaard and Matthew Moore again entrusted with the no.1 and no.3 jerseys respectively. The big tighthead prop Moore continues in his role as captain of the side. The only change in the front row is the return of JP Jamieson who played hooker in the 1st 2 rounds of the u19 competition, he takes up the hooker role for Eastern Province.
The 2nd row of the 1st 2 rounds is reunited as Gerrit Huisamen joins Stefan Ebersohn as he comes into the no.5 jersey. Kevin Kaba who featured off the bench for u21s last week is back with the u19 side, the versatile forward slots into the openside flank berth having played mainly at lock and 8th man over the past few weeks. Tyler Paul moves from lock and slots in on the blindside flank, the towering lad has been impressive ever since he got the call to play for u19s. Erwin Slabbert completes the loose trio, the Framesby boy will be in his usual role at 8th man.
The backline also has a few changes with St Andrew’s College scrumhalf Jason Baggott making his debut for the u19 side. Alex Banfield shift from inside centre to pivot, a position he’s comfortable playing having played plenty of his schoolboy rugby in the flyhalf role.
The centre combination includes two debutants, both Luan Niewoudt and Selvyn Davids are Nico Malan boys and both have played this entire season as the centres for their school. These boys do not only boast great experience (both have played at Craven Week twice), they also bring some great qualities, the poetry in motion that is Selvyn Davids will ask plenty questions of the defence with his skill, pace, vision and feet. Luan offers quality in his distribution, running ability and brutal defence. Their knowledge of each other’s games will make it difficult for the Valke to keep them in check.
Powerful winger Khanya Mzilikazi comes back on the right wing replacing Kuhle Mbiko who drops out of the 23 man squad. Khaya Malotana and Juandre Fourie retain their position from last week with Juandre on the left wing and Khaya at fullback.
John Henry Schmitt who makes way for JP Jamieson will cover hooker from the bench, he isn’t the only starter from last week to drop to bench this week. All of the back replacements are starters from last week’s game, the scrumhalf cover is Francios Nel who scored 2 tries last week. Warren Swartz covers flyhalf from the bench, Sherwin Slater covering the outside backs and outside centre. The other change is Bathandwa Cafu, yet another who is on debut and is yet another man from the Port Elizabeth rugby nursery that is Grey High School.
The last change on the bench is the return of the big front rower from Otto du Plessis, Divan Nell. Divan Nell is the 3rd Otto du Plessis boy in the side with the modest Eastern Province school contingent growing by 1. Divi, as he is better known by his mates was on the bench for the 1st 3 games before missing out on the last 2 games.
I managed to corner Divi for a quick word after their captain run, “We had a good week and we are all well prepared, we are also sure that we’ve ticked all our boxes. The team spirit is high and we have good depth even on the bench, guys like myself, Dewald, Sherwin, Warren, Smiley etc”
The boys will be looking to rectify their mistakes from the last 2 weeks, best of luck to all the men involved.
EP KINGS u19:
15: Khaya Malotana (Queen’s College)
14: Khanya Mzilikazi (Queen’s College)
13: Selvyn Davids (Nico Malan)
12: Luan Niewoudt (Nico Malan)
11: Juandre Fourie (Marlow Landbou)
10: Alex Banfield (Grey High School, PE)
09: Jason Baggott (St Andrew’s College)
08: Erwin Slabbert (Framesby High School)
07: Tyler Paul (St Andrew’s College)
06: Kevin Kaba (Queen’s College)
05: Gerrit Huisamen (Grey High School, PE)
04: Stefan Ebersohn (Grey High School, PE)
03: Matthew Moore (Brandwag)
02: JP Jamieson (Grey High School, PE)
01: Lyle Lombaard (Otto du Plessis)
RESERVES:
16: John Henry Schmitt (Oudtshoorn High School)
17: Similile Qinela (Selborne College)
18: Bathandwa Cafu (Grey High School, PE)
19: Dewald Meyer (Otto du Plessis)
20: Francois Nel (Daniel Pienaar)
21: Warren Swartz (Stirling High School)
22: Sherwin Slater (Andrew Rabie High School)
23: Divan Nell (Otto du Plessis)
HEAD COACH: Ryan Felix
ASSISTANT COACH: Rory Duncan
Ludumo Nkabi - follow on twitter @ludz19
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