Can Maritzburg College bring down the Wit Bulle?

With a blink of an eye and just like that the school holidays are over and teams across the country will be battling it out over the weekend again, with some highly anticipated fixtures taking place.

Affies will be playing host to Maritzburg College, who make their way up the escarpment to enjoy a weekend of action-packed sporting fixtures, with the first XV kicking off at 13:30 p.m.

Catch all the action live on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).

Affies have had a season of highs and lows this season but have come out on top as victorious 7 out of 12 times, with their most recent loss coming against a very strong Grey College, where the side lost by 41 points.

However, during the season, the Witbulle have shown that they possess a very strong forward pack that is well aided by a skilful backline, with a never-die attitude which was evident in the final-minute winner against Jeppe High School for Boys.

Affies will be without Janco Purchase, who recently made the South African Schools side, along with the u18 Blue Bulls Craven week captain, Dieter Schubert, who has been out of action since sustaining a shoulder injury picked up in the Bulls clash in Sasolburg against the Sharks at the Noordvaal Bondedag.

The side will be captained by Steyn Truter and will be hoping that hooker FC van Rooyen puts in another big performance.

Winning 11 out of 16 matches thus far this season, the midlands school are bringing up a strong side, who will be looking to lock horns with the hosts, as they try to get one over the boys from the north. Five of the starting fifteen represented the Sharks Craven Week team.

Aiden Botha, Elbie Mouton and Phiwayinkosi Kubheka make up the Maritzburg front row and are players to keep on the radar as they will be gearing up for a classic head-to-head clash with a powerful Affies front row.

Kubheka and fullback Luyanda Kunene, both recently made the South African Schools side after some stellar performances at Craven Week. Kunene showed his promise in the recent match, where the South African Schools side came up against a

For many of the Maritzburg boys, this will be their last trip up to Pretoria and will want to leave their mark in the school’s history books as they strive to earn a victory up against a formidable Witbulle team.

When Maritzburg faced off against Pretoria Boys High School earlier in the season, the team cruised to an easy victory winning 47-15.

Can the team walk away with a second victory in the jacaranda city, making it two out of two from their exchanges?

The teams:

Affies: 15 Migael de Lange, 14 Stephan Brits, 13 Theuns Maritz, 12 Antonie Fourie, 11 Eagan Roux, 10 Ruben Pienaar, 9 Hendre Schoeman, 8 Ruan Lippold, 7 Juan Vorster, 6 Braam Swanepoel, 5 Jonathan Eloff, 4 JD Hattingh, 3 Ethan Smuts, 2 FC van Rooyen, 1 Steyn Truter.

Maritzburg College: 15 Luyanda Kunene, 14 Colm Reardon, 13 Swelihle Mbatha 12 Nkululeko Sithole, 11 Langelihle Makhathini, 10 Luc Du Toit, 9 Rhett Quinn, 8 Sasha Kadira, 7 Kevin Ayliffe 6 Travis Walton, 5 Bohlale Maphisa, 4 Jake Jansen, 3 Aiden Botha, 2 Elbie Mouton, 1 Phiwayinkosi Kubheka.

Fixtures:

All fixtures are taking place on Affies A-Field.

u14A: 8:00 am

u15A: 9:00 am

u16A: 10:00 am

u19B: 12:20 pm

u19A: 13:30 pm