The Bulls Daisies enter the second half of the 2024 Women’s Premier Division leading the rest of the field despite experiencing a minor bump in round six, a few weeks back. Still, Hayden Groepes and his herd are charging up to pursue their season-long goal of chasing a second successive title, starting with a round 8 match where they host Border on home soil.
The defending champions and the pride of the Eastern Cape will kick off Saturday rugby at Loftus Versfeld at 12h05pm. Tickets start from R 50.00c and are available from Ticketpro.
Up at the front, Sanelisiwe Charlie, Xolelwa Diliza and Asithandile Ntoyanto make up a formidable front row with Vainah Ubisi and Busisiwe Crafford combining at lock. Skipper, Lusanda Dumke and Sinelitha Noxeke who returns from injury will line up as the starting loose forwards with Faith Tshauke at eight.
Groepes says the changes in personnel are nothing more than just team rotation and workload management in what has been a long season, considering the international calendar in between the league.
“We are doing our best to manage player workload and balance the side whilst rotating players so that everyone is as sharp as possible in match situations. Game time and match fitness is golden in our campaign. We want to make sure that we go back to back from last weekend to this weekend and put in another consistent performance.”
“Teams have a bit of continuity coming into the second half of the season, so we will be looking to fine-tune that on our end too” he adds.
At the back, Unam Tose (scrumhalf) and Naima Hlatshwayo (flyhalf) combine at halfback with Marlize de Bruin starting at left wing this week. Patience Mokone will run on the right-hand side of the park whilst Jakkie Cilliers and Unathi Mali pair up at centre whilst Zintle Nonkasana provides cover at full-back.
On their opponents, the Daisies mentor says: “We know they will be hurting from the result of our match in round 1 and so we will have to be on top of our game this weekend and that is a privilege we enjoy; the pressure that comes with the position that we find ourselves in,”
“They earned a well-fought victory in round 7 and so they surely are to bring that confidence into this round too. We will give it everything we have because we have prepared accordingly.”
The impact squad will see Doreen Mkhabela, Yonela Ngxingolo, Pearl Mhelembe, Ziyanda Ngohlekana, Sophy Mashapa, Rumandi Potgieter, Sesihle Maguga and Relebuhile Motaung all on standby to do duty as the competition enters its second half of the season.
The Bulls Daisies sit at the top of the table, four points clear of second-placed DHL Western Province with the Sanlam Boland Dames in third, tied on points with Province. Border sits in fourth place, seven adrift from the top with the Free State, Golden Lions and the EP Queens completing the rest of the log standings, respectively.
BULLS DAISIES vs BORDER WOMEN STARTING XV: 1. Sanelisiwe Charlie, 2. Xolelwa Diliza, 3. Asithandile Ntoyanto, 4. Vainah Ubisi, 5. Busisiwe Crafford, 6. Lusanda Dumke (c), 7. Sinelitha Noxeke, 8. Faith Tshauke, 9. Unam Tose, 10. Naima Hlatshwayo, 11. Marlize de Bruin, 12. Jakkie Cilliers, 13. Unathi Mali, 14. Patience Mokone, 15. Zintle Nonkasana
BULLS DAISIES IMPACT SQUAD: 16. Doreen Mkhabela, 17. Yonela Ngxingolo, 18. Pearl Mhelembe, 19. Ziyanda Ngohlekana, 20. Sophy Mashapa, 21. Rumandi Potgieter, 22. Sesihle Maguga, 23. Relebuhile Motaung
BULLS DAISIES MANAGEMENT: Hayden Groepes – Head Coach, Aschin Klein – Assistant Coach, Thando Manana – Manager, Dr. Sbu Ntuli – Team Doctor, Karabo Morokane & Lenel Bellingnan – Physiotherapist(s), Tayla Chidrawi – Strength & Conditioning, Luyolo Tandani – Logistics Manager, Swazi Bisset – Partnerships Manager, Akusenani Khumalo – Team Manager
