Pumas need to be ruthless and clinical
Tough-as-nails Steval Pumas loose-head prop, Corné Fourie makes a return to the starting 15 of the team for the vital Currie Cup clash against the GWK Griquas at Mbombela Stadium tonight.
Vincent Koch who started in the number-one jersey against the Cheetahs and Sharks, moves to tight head. With these two propping up Francois du Toit, and with a little help from Giant Mtyanda and Frikkie Spies, the Griquas scrum will be in for a torrid test of technique and strength.
Fourie earned 12 caps for the Lions in this year’s Super Rugby competition and contributed to the front row that won 91 per cent of their scrums, the best in the tournament. He played off the bench in the Pumas first two matches. DeJay Terblanche is relegated to the bench.
Uzair Cassiem also gets a start with Jaco Bouwer warming the bench. Heinrich Steyl will start at fullback with JW Bell not in the 22-man squad.
Dylon Frylick could make his debut off the bench. The nuggety scrum half earned a single cap for the Stormers in the 2014 Super Rugby competition.
Griquas have two players earning first caps. Flanker, Ruaan Lerm and fly half, Dean Grant are in the starting 15. No doubt, Corné Steenkamp will introduce himself to Grant early in the game.
Lerm also makes his Currie Cup debut, having played nine Vodacom Cup matches for the Lions earlier this season. Grant scored a try and kicked three conversions for the Ikey Tigers in the famous come-back-from-the-dead Varsity Cup final against Pukke earlier this season.
Another two Griquas debutantes, Neil Marais and the experienced former Lion Doppies la Grange, are on the bench.
“It’s very important for the team to get a win on Friday night to kick-start our campaign. We performed well against the Sharks with 14 men, but were very disappointed with our performance against Free State last week,” said coach, Hawies Fourie on Wednesday.
“The Pumas have a good pack of forwards, with strong and aggressive ball carriers like Renaldo Bothma and Vincent Koch. We need to match their physicality if we want to beat them and be more accurate in executing our own game plan. In tight games like these it’s also important to use our opportunities to put points on the board,” said Fourie.
The Steval Pumas battled in the line-outs against the Cheetahs and Sharks and have been hard at work this week to get this vital set piece perfected. Coach Jimmy Stonehouse admitted at a press conference on Tuesday that this cost them in the game against the Sharks.
“We worked hard on this (the line-outs), the speed on the ground and accuracy of the line-out throws, so hopefully there will be an improvement,” he said.
The Pumas are confident that the errors that cost them in Durban will not be repeated against Griquas, and sweat has flowed on the training field this week to ensure this.
The home team, playing in front of their supporters, should have too much in the arsenal for Griquas. A win is vital for both teams and this pressure might bring a bit of niggle into the game.
The match starts at 19:10 and tickets are on sale at Computicket and the stadium. A free park-and-ride will operate from I’langa Mall.
Steval Pumas
1. Corné Fourie, 2. Francois du Toit,
3. Vincent Koch, 4. Frikkie Spies, 5. Giant Mtyanda, 6. Corné Steenkamp (c), 7. Uzair Cassiem, 8. Renaldo Bothma, 9. Reynier van Rooyen, 10. Justin van Staden, 11. Jerome Pretorius, 12. Stefan Watermeyer,
13. JW Jonker, 14. Ruwellyn Isbell,
15. Heinrich Steyl,
16. Frankie Herne, 17. DeJay Terblanche, 18. Marius Coetzer, 19. Jaco Bouwer,
20. Dylon Frylinck, 21. JC Roos,
22. Rosko Specman.
GWK Griquas
1. Steph Roberts, 2. Martin Bezuidenhout, 3. Ewald van der Westhuizen, 4. Jonathan Adendorf, 5. Jaco Nepgen, 6. Marnus Schoeman, 7. Ruaan Lerm, 8. Carel Greeff, 9. Tian Meyer, 10. Dean Grant, 11. PJ Vermeulen, 12. Wayne Stevens (c),
13. Johnathan Francke, 14. Ederies Arendsem, 15. Francois Brummer,
16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Maks van Dyk,
18. Hugo Kloppers, 19. RJ Liebenberg,
20. Abrie Griesel, 21. Doppies La Grange,
22. Neil Marais.
Fascinating facts
Pumas reserve scrum half, Dylon Frylinck played for Western Province against the Pumas in the Vodacom Cup at Mbombela Stadium earlier this season. In this match scrum half, Reynier van Rooyen, was on the Pumas bench.
The Steval Pumas tight five weighs 551 kilograms, and that of the Griquas 554 kilograms.
