Head coach of the Vodacom under-21 Edgar Marutlulle says his young herd is prepared for a bruising Jukskei derby when they welcome the Lions to the capital on Friday, 30 May at 13h00. The two rivals will battle it out on the B-fields of the Loftus Versfeld Stadium before the cup competition goes on the midway break.
“We have had a mixed start to our campaign, however, i am pleased at the way that these youngsters have remained committed to our main objective and cannot fault the effort they have given us. Sometimes the bounce of the ball does not go our way but that is not always the true measure of the effort,”
“We now have this job to do, in what we expect to be a bruising derby against the Lions, another tough opponent, presumably with the same ambition as us which is to win. We know how important the points will be for our campaign, especially going into the mini break, so we are going into this like it is a final.”
Marutlulle has assembled a forward pack that has Mbasa Maqubela alongside skipper, Juan Smal and Casper Badenhorst at front row. Behind the trio are lock duo, Jacobus Johannes “JJ” Theron and Heinrich Theron with Dieter Schubert and Cephas van Biljon combining at loose-forward. Marco Ferreira lines up at eight.
Vice-captain Steven Nel starts at scrum half with Ian van der Merwe as his half back partner who slots in at flyahalf.
The backline sees Loyola Doyi and Alfondso Isaacs running at wing with Philip-Albert “PA” van Niekerk and Demitre Erasmus pairing up at centre with Thandolwami Hopewell Ntshangase at fullback.
The impact squad sees Siphosethu Mnebelele, Ranon Fouche, Jean Erasmus, Shaun Schürmann, Abri van der Westhuysen, Caleb Abrahams, Pieter van der Merwe and Lukas Meyer all on standby duty for the fixture.
VODACOM BULLS UNDER-21 STARTING XV: 1. Mbasa Maqubela, 2. Juan Smal (c), 3. Casper Badenhorst , 4. Jacobus Johannes “JJ” Theron, 5. Heinrich Theron, 6. Dieter Schubert, 7. Cephas van Biljon, 8. Marco Ferreira, 9. Steven Nel (vc) , 10. Ian van der Merwe, 11. Luyolo Doyi, 12. Philip-Albert “PA” van Niekerk, 13. Demitre Erasmus, 14. Alfondso Isaacs, 15. Thandolwami Hopewell Ntshangase
VODACOM BULLS UNDER-21 IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Siphosethu Mnebelele, 17. Ranon Fouche, 18. Jean Erasmus, 19. Shaun Schürmann, 20. Abri van der Westhuysen, 21. Caleb Abrahams, 22. Pieter van der Merwe, 23. Lukas Meyer
VODACOM BULLS UNDER-21 MANAGEMENT: Wessel Du Plessis – Head of Juniors, Edgar Marutlulle – Head Coach, Jacques van Rooyen – Forwards Coach, Ofentse Moeng – Backline Coach, Dr. Chris van der Merwe – Team Doctor, Claudette Eckard – Physiotherapist, Limbi Siyani – Sports Scientist, Michael Prevoo – Strength and Conditioning, Tshepo Mashigo – Logistics Manager, Prieur Le Grange and Justin Kruger – Technical Analyst, Prieur Le Grange – Team Manager
