Ikey Tigers team for Babybok clash

FNB UCT, fresh from their 70-5 thrashing of FNB UWC last weekend, will host Dawie Theron’s South African Under-20 side at the Green Mile this Saturday as the defending Varsity Cup champions continue their pre-season preparations.

Foote told varsitycup.co.za: “They’ve been together for a little while longer than us and they’ll be wanting to prove a point against a team that is slightly older than them.

“We’re really looking forward to the game as it will allow us another opportunity to test out some new combinations and to keep working on a few key elements which you can only practice in a match situation (like this one).”

Flanker Ntsolo Setlaba will again captain the Ikeys – as he did against UWC – with squad leaders Don Armand and Adrian Kritzinger on Stormers duty in Wellington at the same time.

The Ikeys coach, however, had nothing but praise for the team’s stand-in skipper who made such an impression during the Cape side’s impressive WP Super League campaign last year.

“Ntsolo’s more than a stand-in captain,” said Foote, “the guys look up to him and are already reacting well to his leadership.”

Foote has tinkered slightly with the starting XV from last week, but all members of his 28-man squad will get a run against the SA U20s – as they did against UWC.

The Baby Boks, meanwhile, have announced their starting XV which includes a very talented midfield pairing in the shape of Patrick Howard and William Small-Smith, with Tony Jantjies, the younger brother of Springbok flyhalf Elton, starting in the No.10 jersey.

Players to watch out for up front are front rowers Nicolaas van Dyk and Allan Dell, former WP and KZN – respectively – Craven Week props.

The teams for Saturday:

FNB UCT (squad): 1 Wes Chetty, 2 Matthew Page, 3 Adriaan Botha, 4 Pallo Manuel, 5 Levi Odendaal, 6 Ntsolo Setlaba (captain), 7 James Tatham, 8 Greg Mallett, 9 Nick Farrar, 10 Nick Holton, 11 Nathan Nel, 12 Michael Morris, 13 Tiger Bax, 14 Damian de Allende, 15 Paul Cohen, 16 Dayne Jans, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Shane Meier, 19 Neil Rautenbach, 20 Graham Knoop, 21 James Kilroe, 22 Brad Bosman, 23 TC Botha, 24 Stevie Wallace, 24 Dillon Leyds, 25 David Ambunya, 26 Richard Stewart, 27 Andrew Norton, 28 Nicholas Mills.

SA Under-20: 15 Marais Schmidt, 14 JJ de Klerk, 13 William Small-Smith, 12 Patrick Howard, 11 Travis Ismael, 10 Tony Jantjies, 9 Kevin Luiters, 8 Fabian Booysen, 7 Wiaan Liebenberg, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Nicolaas van Dyk, 2 Mark Pretorius, 1 Allan Dell.
Replacements – from: Gideon Muller, Marzuq Maarman, Jason Thomas, Franco Marais, Mihlali Mpafi, Ettiene Oosthuizen, Jacques du Plessis, Cobus Nel, Shaun Adendorff, Poerie van Rooyen, KK Hlungwane, Errol Jaggers, Mathys Smit, Jan Serfontein, Ruwellyn Isbell.

Kick-off: 4.30pm

* The game will consist of four chukkas of 20 minutes each, with more than the usual number of seven replacements allowed per team.