by Ben-Piet Lotter
Our featured game this week takes place in the normally quiet, leafy suburb of Greenside at Pirates Rugby Club. Do not be fooled though; there won’t be anything tranquil about the clash between old rivals Pirates and Raiders at 16:00 on Saturday.
The Rats will be bullish coming off a strong performance against the University of Johannesburg last week but will not underestimate Raiders. Coach Brian Armitage, happy with steady improvements from their warm-up games and a forward pack that performed well in the set pieces, also noted the stellar performance from Man of the Match, Aidynn Cupido at 12 and the value of Keagan Lailvaux keeping the score board ticking with an 86% success rate off the boot. Armitage predicts that Raiders “…will launch attacks from all areas of the field […] and will try speed up the game.”
This will be Raiders’s first fixture in the Castle Lager Pirates Grand Challenge, just back from a tour to the Saldanha Super 8 Tournament where they played three tough matches. Raiders director of rugby, Derek Jardine, says the tour was great for team building and setting the tone for the season. Although they are managing a few injuries, old stalwarts like Marque Alberts and James Bester, who didn’t tour, are available. Fielding quite a young team, Jardine said: “We pride ourselves on being the fittest team in the league and want to play high risk rugby”. Expect an epic clash of styles.
If you are not in town this weekend you can watch the main game live, streamed on: https://www.youtube.com/live/l0wCH_h2h7k?feature=share
Castle Lager will be running a special on South Africa’s oldest lager and Freddy Hirsch, the Official Braai Partner of the Springboks, will be handing out some spice samples and tasters. You can also enter the Freddy Hirsch competition and stand a chance to go and watch the Springboks play in France later this year. Come down early and settle into the day with the Pirates Madalas hosting an Italian old boys’ team in the first game at 11:30
Pirates
1 Dillon Bakos, 2 Sheldon Terblanche, 3 Anthony Gallagher, 4 Kevin du Randt, 5 Rinus Bothma, 6 Jabulani Mtsheni, 7 Libhongo-Lethu Geza, 8 Bryn Dean, 9 Hammer Esterhuizen, 10 Keagan Lailvaux, 11 Sinethemba Maphaua, 12 Aidynn Cupido, 13 Sipho Mohlala, 14 Lux Ntsepe, 15 Ethan Anderson, 16 Liam Larkin, 17 Tom Pearson, 18 Hanriel Coetzee, 19 Liam Nel, 20 Mike Msenyi, 21 Katlego Ntsie, 22 Wesley Flanagan, 23 Archie Qata
Raiders
1 Malgas Dylan, 2 Calitz Damian, 3 Kalayamodimo Tshepo, 4 Nebe Wilhelm, 5 Ndlovu Sibusiso, 6 O’donoghue Brendan, 7 Ngobo Andile, 8 Iiya Chumani, 9 Adams Ishmael, 10 Kubheka John, 11 Snyer Marvin, 12 Daniels Xolela, 13 Alberts Marque, 14 Tshimanga Chadrack, 15 Karelse Adriaan, 16 Yende Mxoliisi, 17 Qinela Luyolo, 18 Mhlaba Nkosvumilel, 19 Mtshilita Mfundo, 20 Benjamin Cellen, 21 Sigqi Vuyisani, 22 Bester James, 23 Seriteng Phenyo
