Boland Landbou faces formidable Oakdale Landbou in Farmers’ Derby
This Saturday sees a Farmers’ Derby taking place at 12:30, when Boland Landbou tackles a formidable Oakdale Landbou side on “Die Eike“, in Riversdal.
Last weekend, Boland Landbou lost 10-18 to a resilient Stellenberg side. It was a frustrating game for the visitors, not only because it was a loss, but because it was their lowest scoring game of the season.
This weekend, the Paarl farmers will be without their SA u18 scrumhalf, Jayden Brits, who will be on duty in the International Series, which kicks off at Hoërskool Durbanville on Friday, with SA u18 facing France and SA u18A taking on Ireland. That means they’ll have to lean on the boot and playmaking of their flyhalf and captain, Pieter Bergh, even more than usual.
Bergh possesses a good kicking game and Oakdale will need to be aware of their positional play. He’s adept at nailing 50-22 kicks if opposing back threes are out of position.
Oakdale heads into the King Price Derby Series match off a thrilling 21-17 win over Paul Roos Gimnaium. They’ve been in top form this season, one of the most exciting teams in the country, and they’ve been especially lethal at set-pieces. However, that success has left them without SA u18 prop Kai Pratt and eighthman Jacobus de Villiers, and SA u18A lock Diaan Augustyn for Saturday’s showdown. Can they still pull off their set-piece antics without them?
They’ve been so inventive with their lineout moves this season that there’s a chance Springboks’ head coach, Rassie Erasmus, might borrow a move or two for the men in Green and Gold in the forthcoming rugby championship. He previously used set piece moves taken from the Paul Roos U14B side in the recent two-test series against Italy.
Last year, when they met in Paarl, Oakdale claimed a 21-13 victory over Boland Landbou. The difference between the sides might end up being bigger this year, although the players who are missing because of international duty could tilt the balance.
Also, last weekend, the Paarl Derby showed that anything is possible in a derby clash.
Teams:
Oakdale Landbou vs Boland Landbou at 12:30 in Riversdal.
Oakdale Landbou: 15 Mark-Hein Fourie, 14 Myburgh Eksteen, 13 Anrich Scheffer, 12 Andrè van der Merwe, 11 Lee-Winn Pretorius, 10 CT Vosloo, 9 Jandrian Goosen, 8 Lohan Gerber, 7 Adrian Smith, 6 Jannes Snyman (Captain), 5 Liam van den Berg, 4 Rico Ferreira, 3 Francois le Roux, 2 Sine Mdlankomo, 1 Kyle Burger.
Boland Landbou: 15 Gehano van Bo, 14 Aleit Stander, 13 Jason Ocks, 12 Blake de Kock, 11 Jadon Ocks, 10 Pieter Bergh (Captain), 9 Diwan Schoeman, 8 Jacques Retief, 7 Kody Nell, 6 Juan Visage, 5 Jeandrè le Roux, 4 Stephan Griesel, 3 Derico Messina, 2 Wikus Coetzee, 1 Diwan Grobbelaar.
