Kempton Park look to stay on track for home semi-final
Kempton Park, who’s currently sitting in second place in the SDC Noordvaal Cup Plate-division, will look to stay on track to secure a home Semi-final when they travel to Pretoria to take on Zwartkop on Saturday.
Kempton started of well after the holiday break and put together a comprehensive team performance to beat Hoërskool Middelburg 39-19 last week. The men from Kempton ran in five tries at home to seal the deal. Although, it was inside centre, Marco Opperman, who had his kicking boots on with a 100% success rate from the tee. Joshua Meyer makes another appearance in the familiar position at fullback and will look to continue his purple patch on attack when they take on the Zwarries.
Upfront, the loose trio from Kempton, have been a menace in the competition thus far. Milano Hattingh (blindside flank) and Preston Smith (eightman) will look to bring the physicality.
The Zwarries’ struggle for continuity continued last week with a loss against Montana on home soil. Waldo Smit has been a shining light at 9 for the men from Pretoria and will once again look to capitalize on any weaknesses in the Kempton defence sniping around the fringes. Smit has been well supported by Denilson Metcalfe (right wing) and Kyle Blignaut (outside centre) with both being strong ballcarriers out wide for the Zwarries.
Upfront Leonard Lotriet (blindside flanker) will look to counter the physical loose trio from Kempton and give back some of their own medicine. Lotriet has been instrumental in lighting the fire among the big men in the trenches.
Motana will travel to Middelburg to face Hoërskool Middelburg on Saturday.
The Monties’ finally got some rhythm against Zwarries last week and looked a different outfit after the break. Their ever-present hooker, Christiaan Coetzee would like to put in another big shift upfront to lead his side to what might be somewhat of an upset if they can come out on top on Saturday.
Middelburg will have other ideas after their loss last weekend and will look to capitalize on home ground advantage to keep their hopes alive for a semi-final spot. Ronin van Niekerk has been instrumental for his side thus far with his remarkable work rate and will once again aim at being the rock in Monties’s shoe at ruck time.
HTS Middelburg will still be hurting from their one-point loss against the table toping Rustenburg last week but will take tremendous positives from that as they still search for that elusive first victory in the division this season when they face Klerksdorp in Middelburg on Saturday.
Both teams have struggled throughout the competition with Klerksdorp also searching for their first win thus far.
Transvalia will face a tough ask when they take on the table toppers from Rustenburg on Saturday. The men from Vander Bijl are currently sitting in third position and a victory away from home could somewhat ease their path to secure a home semi-final. Rustenburg are still unbeaten and playing at home will make the ask so much tougher for Transvalia.
The teams:
Zwartkop vs Kempton in Pretoria at 12:30:
Zwartkop: 15 Johnathan Wilson, 14 Denilson Metcalfe, 13 Kyle Blignaut, 12 Zander Farmer, 11 Declan Grobler, 10 Kieraan Krotz, 9 Waldo Smit, 8 Ian van der Westhuizen, 7 Leonard Lotriet, 6 Adriaan Janse van Vuuren, 5 Nathan van Aswegen, 4 Johan van Heerden, 3 Brogan Ackerman, 2 Reagan Smith, 1 Xavier Boikano.
Kempton: 15 Joshua Meyer, 14 Andre du Plessis, 13 Marko Opperman, 12 Tiaan Delport, 11 Tian Aucamp, 10 Zander de Jongh, 9 Ryan Smith, 8 Preston Smith, 7 Milano Hattingh, 6 Ruben Turketti, 5 Luann Schreuder, 4 Divan Francis, 3 Adrian Labuschagne, 2 Brendon Gerber, 1 Zeke Shaw.
Hoërskool Middelburg vs Montana in Middelburg at 13:30 :
Middelburg: Mthokozisi Yende, 14 Swelihle Sibiya, 13 Smiley Sibande, 12 Luke Geldenhuys, 11 Blessing Hamandishe, 10 Crawford Joubert, 9 Simtha Maseko, 8 Kaylin Maputha, 7 Tyrell Isaacs, 6 Ronin van Niekerk, 5 Rogan van der Walt, 4 Wandisa Mthobeni, 3 Tebogo Nkosi, 2 Fumani Chuake, 1 Shuan Marx.
Montana: 15 Divan Nel, 14 Joshua Fouche, 13 Liam de Villiers, 12 Roald Matthee, 11 Ryan Nel, 10 Rigard van Rensburg, 9 Ewan Korb, 8 Ivaan Koltzow, 7 Devan van der Merwe, 6 Eduard Retief, 5 Justin Herbst, 4 Hein du Preez, 3 Divan Nel, 2 Luan Theunissen, 1 Rico Heroldt.
HTS Middelburg vs Klerksdorp in Middelburg at 12:40 :
HTS Middelburg: TBC
Klerksdorp: 15 Brink von Wielligh, 14 Asif Sumara, 13 Lebogang Wageng, 12 Leonard Bevan, 11 Papino Maluleke, 10 Decon Loots, 9 Izak Nienaber, 8 Pedri Snyman, 7 Vuyo Msagala, 6 Kobus de Waal, 5 JJ Nel, 4 Heinrich Hovener, 3 Liam Pretorius, 2 Janu de Wet, 1 Juan-dre Botha.
Rustenburg vs Transvalia in Rustenburg at 12:30 :
Rustenburg: 15 Lorenzo Snyers, 14 MC Smit, 13 Adriaan Liebenberg, 12 Awie Alberts, 11 Zulu Khumalo, 10 Jayden Meyer, 9 Nathan van Aswegen, 8 Adrian Young, 7 Sybrandt Byleveld, 6 GJ Steenberg, 5 Pedri Human, 4 PJ Engelbrecht, 3 Carlo van Wijk, 2 Zander Steenkamp, 1 Werner Kinnear.
Transvalia: 15 Danie Grobler, 14 Zintle Motsomai, 13 Siya Khambula, 12 Brandonlee Smit, 11 Ruben Claasen, 10 Duan du Toit, 9 Anro Nagel,8 Anro Labuschagne, 7 Xander Mchniel, 6 Wynand Stols, 5 Dane Beytel, 4 Victor Brits, 3 Stiaan Breedt, 2 Junior van Wyngaardt, 1 Arne Botes.
