Ikeys star to captain WP

UCT lock Ross Skeate will captain Western Province in their 2008 Absa Currie Cup
opener against the Natal Sharks on Friday night.

Skeate has been a regular member of WP’s Currie Cup team in recent years – as well
as the Stormers – and the captaincy is just reward for the two-metre tall forward’s
efforts.
"It’s a great honour to be given the captain’s armband, but it’s more a group of
leaders at the moment," said Skeate. "Everybody wants to be a leader in their
position."

Scrumhalf Paul Delport, another man with Ikeys links, is on the bench for Western
Province.

The Western Province team: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Wylie Human, 13 Dylan des Fountain, 12
PJ Vermeulen, 11 Joe Pietersen, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Alastair Siegelaar, 8 AJ
Venter, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Pieter Myburgh, 5 Ross Skeate (captain), 4 Adriaan
Fondse, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Schalk Ferreira.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Wicus Blaauw, 18 Ruaan du Preez, 19 Francois
van der Merwe, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Paul Delport, 22 Zhahier Ryland.

* Meanwhile, another Ikeys lock, youngster Martin Muller, will be in action tonight
for the South African Under-21 team when they take on England in the semifinals of
the IRB Junior World Championships in Wales.
Muller has been a regular for the SA U20’s in their march to the play-offs, even
scoring a try in one of the pool matches.

The South Africa Under-20 team: 15 Wilton Pietersen, 14 Cecil Afrika, 13 Stefan
Watermeyer, 12 Robert Ebersohn, 11 Lionel Mapoe, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Francois
Houghaard, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (captain), 7 Thiliphaut Marole, 6 Johan van
Deventer, 5 Cornell Hess, 4 Martin Muller, 3 Frederick Kirsten, 2 Henri Bantjes, 1
Corné Fourie.
Replacements: 16 PJ van Vuuren, 17 Wiehahn Herbst, 18 Sobelo Nhlapo, 19 Nick Köster,
20 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 21 Josias Ebersohn, 22 Stephan Dippenaar.