Engine room reshuffle for Ikey Tigers

The unbeaten University of Cape Town (UCT) will go into Monday’s Varsity Cup derby clash against the defending champion Maties (kick-off 5pm) without star lock Eben Etzebeth.

Etzebeth, the Man of the Match in UCT’s 45-12 win over TUT on Monday, picked up a knock against the Vikings and will miss Monday’s derby match – along with his regular second row partner Levi Odendaal (both pictured), who sat out the Vikings clash, too.

Varsity Cup veteran Don Armand will thus start in the second row, along with greenhorn Brad Bosman who will make his first start for the FNB Ikeys this season.

Backing up Armand and Bosman from the bench will be the lanky Pallo Manuel who celebrated his debut on Monday with a fine try against the Vikings.

Ikeys head coach Kevin Foote, as he has done all season, has taken the loss of Etzebeth and Odendaal in his stride, preferring to look ahead to Monday: “I’m expecting a tight match.

“A lot has been said, over the years, about the conditions at UCT and, yes, they will play a role. It goes without saying that hopefully we will use those conditions better than Stellenbosch.

“There will be pressure, as you would expect in any match – nevermind a derby match – but it’s all about absorbing that pressure and taken any chances that come our way,” he told varsitycup.co.za.

“Maybe the teams that we’ve played against thus far haven’t taken their chances properly [against us]. Against the Maties, however, they will take even half a chance – should we make any mistakes – and we need to be prepared to do the same.”

The FNB UCT team: 15 Ricky Rijs, 14 Pete Haw, 13 Therlow Pietersen, 12 Adrian Kritzinger, 11 Paul Cohen, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Ricky Schroeder, 8 Greg Mallett, 7 Nick Fenton-Wells (captain), 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Don Armand, 4 Brad Bosman, 3 Shane Meier, 2 Matt Page, 1 Wes Chetty.
Replacements: 16 Dayne Jans, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Pallo Manuel, 19 Zandy Macdonald, 20 Nick Farrar, 21 Nick Holton, 22 Jannie Bester, 23 Pete Olivier.
 
Head coach: Kevin Foote

Date: Monday, March 7
Venue: Groote Schuur Fields, Cape Town
Kick-off: 5pm (Live on SuperSport One)
Referee: Tiaan Jonker
TMO: JC Fortuin