Ikeys team for Intervarsity announced

The Ikeys and Maties camps have picked their teams for Saturday, when the two rival sides clash at Intervarsity played at the Green Mile.

It was the Ikeys who took the clean sweep last year, beating Maties twice on their way to the WP Super League title, but Maties, having secured a tense 33-28 victory at the Danie Craven Stadium earlier in the season will be keen to finish the job this weekend to stay in the hunt for 2012 League honours. 

Conditions are likely to play a big role, with the rain that arrived on Friday expected to carry on till Saturday morning, so adapting to the soft field and slippery ball will be key.

Ikeys coach Kevin Foote admitted that things have been tough this year as his team is currently in a rebuilding phase, but added that they took heart from their victory over Victorians in Stellenbosch last week which was in difficult conditions.

"We have a very young team and we have had some injuries, but we were encouraged by the performance against Victorians last week," he said.

Foote is expecting a heavy onslaught up front as the Maties will want to slow the game down in the wet conditions, and explained that his team will have to curb their attacking instincts to give themselves the best chance of winning.

"We will be smart about it, they [Maties] are a well-drilled side and the conditions will suit their conservative gameplan so we will have to change our approach," he said.

Foote has made a couple of key changes to the team that beat Victorians last week, with a few of experienced players coming back into the side for the Intervarsity showdown.

Tiger Bax will link up with Andre Coetzer in the midfield, whilst up front hooker Dayne Jans and loosehead prop Wesley Chetty will link up once more as they seek to take the game to the Maties.

The visitors will have Western Province flyhalf Gary van Aswegen pulling the strings behind their powerful pack, so they will certainly take some stopping, but the intensity of the old rivalry should mean a tight contest regardless of form.

FNB UCT v FNB Maties Intervarsity
(Saturday, September 1 – Groote Schuur, UCT, 15.30pm)

The teams: 

FNB UCT: 15 Andrew Norton, 14 Paul Cohen, 13 Liam Bax, 12 Andre Coetzer, 11 Mark Winter, 10 Ross Jones-Davies, 9 Dylan Frylink, 8 JJ Gagiano, 7 James Tatham, 6 Josh Katzen, 5 Levi Odendaal, 4 Graham Knoop, 3 Christopher Heiberg, 2 Dayne Jans, 1 Wesley Chetty.
Replacements: 16 Gareth Topkin, 17 Shane Meier, 18 Digby Webb, 19 Stephen Buerger, 20 Stephen Wallace, 21 Nathan Nel, 22 Dylan Sage.

FNB Maties: 15 André Smith, 14 Danie Roux, 13 Mark Hodgskiss, 12 Louis Jordaan 11 Morgan Newman, 10 Gary van Aswegen, 9 Gerhard Jordaan, 8 Sam Mabombo, 7 Jurg Streicher, 6 Lampies Lamprecht, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Reniel Hugo, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Alfred Ries, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Gareth Light, 17 Suan Havenga, 18 Nog Een, 19 Nicholas de Jager, 20 Koos Eksteen, 21 André Kemp, 22 Jarryd Buys
 
All the fixtures for Intervarsity:

Ikeys 3rd v Maties 3rd, 13.05pm
UCT U20A Troians v US U20A  (Hetley Atkins Trophy), 14.15pm
Ikeys (Eagles) 2nd v Maties 2nd, 14.15
FNB Ikey Tigers  v FNB Maties  (Intervarsity Trophy), 15.30pm

The WP Super League log:
(Played, won, points – as at August 26)

1. Durbanville-Bellville 15, 14, 66
2. FNB Maties 14, 12, 61
3. Hamilton's 16, 11, 57
4. Victorians 14, 8, 42
5. FNB UCT 13, 7, 37
6. SK-Walmers 13, 7, 35
7. Belhar 15, 4, 23
8. False Bay 16, 4, 20
9. Tygerberg 15, 3, 19
10. Villager's 14, 1, 11