Ryan Felix’s young u19 side travelled to Wellington for a very tough semi-final against Boland u19s. The game was always going to be tough with Port Elizabeth youngsters having already lost there in the league stages. Things this time were to be a little different, firstly, this time they were coming off a morale boosting victory away from home unlike when they went there on the back of a loss to SWD in Port Elizabeth.
The return of Sergeal Petersen was also a timely boost as he justified his selection dotting down twice for the Kings as they recorded an impressive 45-30 victory to advance to the final. The backs scored all the tries with Khaya Molatana, Selvyn Davids, Juandre Fourie and Alex Banfield all adding 5 pointers of their own for a tally of 6 tries for the side. This for me is indicative of how well the pack must’ve done on the day. I’m sure Matt and his men did really well up front to ensure the backs ran in the tries.
This week presents a new challenge with the men heading up to Nelspruit for the final against the unbeaten Valke u19s. It’s a daunting task for the men, but I understand there were a lot of positives taken from the narrow loss to Valke a few weeks ago at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The coaches named a largely unchanged side for the final. The pack of forward will for the 1st time this season be unchanged, with the 8 starters from last week lining up exactly as they did last week. David Murray is on the loosehead side of the scrum with Jean Pierre Jamieson at hooker. Matthew Moore anchors the scrum at tighthead and will continue in his capacity as captain of the side. The Grey duo of Stephan Ebersohn and Gerrit Huisamen will complete the tight 5, coming in behind the front row as a combination in the 2nd row. They’ve proven to be a good combination with the more athletic Gerrit Huisamen assuming the lineout kingpin role and the bruising Stephan Ebersohn going about his role as the enforcer. John Henry Schmitt will wear the no.6 jersey and will hopefully provide the team with impetus at the breakdown. Tyler Paul continues on the blindside flank and he’ll be 1 of the primary ball carriers in the side. Erwin Slabbert rounds up the forwards at the back of the scrum.
The halfback combo is also unchanged with St Andrew’s scholar Jason Baggott in the no.9 jersey and Alex Banfield pulling the strings from flyhalf. The centres compromise of the Nico Malan duo of Luan Nieuwoudt at inside centre and the slippery Selvyn Davids, who has also taken over as the primary goal-kicker of the side, at 13. The 1 change in the starting XV comes in the back 3 with Juandre Fourie missing out due to an injury, Juandre along with fullback Khaya Malotana were the only 2 backline players to have started all the games. Juandre missing out this week means Khaya is the only backline player to have started all the games throughout the season, with Khaya at fullback and Sergeal on the right wing. Sherwin Slater is the man that comes in on the vacant left wing berth. The Andrew Rabie High former scholar has played mostly at outside centre, he’ll relish having a bit more space in which he can use his pace on the wing.
The bench is also largely unchanged with only Warren Swarts coming onto the bench for Sherwin Slater. Mvelo Khumalo retains his spot on the bench as the reserve tighthead prop with Smija Qinela covering loosehead. Jonathan Ford deputises for JP Jamieson. Bathandwa Cafu and Dewald Meyer continue as the utility forwards on the bench giving the coaches good options. Francois Nel is the reserve scrumhalf while Ethan Fortuin is the utility back covering a few positions from the bench.
I spoke to Matthew to get his thoughts on today’s big final, “There is a strong brotherhood in the team, we’re much closer now than we were at the beginning of the competition. There is a strong will to play in promotion relegation against Border.” “We’re up for it and when we go onto the field, it’s out of the coaches hands, we’re ready and we’ll do the job.”
It has all been said, all that’s left to say is good luck to Ryan, Rory and the boys in Nelspruit. The match kicks off at 14:20 at the Mbombela Stadium.
Kings u19:
15: Khaya Malotana (Queen’s College)
14: Sergeal Petersen (Grey High School, PE)
13: Selvyn Davids (Nico Malan)
12: Luan Niewoudt (Nico Malan)
11: Sherwin Slater (Andrew Rabie High School)
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: JH Schmitt (Oudtshoorn High School)
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: David Murray (St Andrew’s College)
Reserves:
16: Jonathan Ford (Pearson High School)
17: Similile Qinela (Selborne College)
18: Bathandwa Cafu (Grey High School)
19: Dewald Meyer (Otto du Plessis)
20: Francois Nel (Daniel Pienaar)
21: Ethan Fortuin (St Andrew’s College)
22: Warren Swarts (Stirling High School)
23: Mvelo Khumalo (Kingswood College)
HEAD COACH: Ryan Felix
ASSISTANT COACH: Rory Duncan
Ludumo Nkabi - follow on twitter @ludz19
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