THE Welwitschias face a tough assignment when they take on the Leopards in their Currie Cup First Division match in Potchefstroom on Friday afternoon.
The Leopards are currently second on the log on 13 points, behind the defending champions the Griffons on 15, while the Welwitschias are fifth on eight points.
The Welwitschias got off to a good start in this year’s competition, narrowly losing 66-59 away to the Griffons, before thumping the EP Kings 51-25 in Windhoek a week later.
That win saw them moving up to fourth place on the log, but they have since dropped another place following their narrow 56-47 defeat to the Valke last weekend.
According to coach Lyn Jones that defeat hurt a lot.
“We are deeply disappointed that we lost to Falcons last Saturday. A victory was well within our ability, but our line-out game fell apart in the second half. But we are growing more and more confident as the tournament progresses and are looking forward to the match against the Leopards,” he said.
Jones, however, added that the Leopards will probably be their toughest opponents in the competition.
“The Leopards are probably the strongest team in the competition. They have a very youthful squad that’s very fit and strong with fast runners.”
Jones has recalled three stalwarts who played for Western Suburbs in the Gold Cup last weekend in Eugene Jantjies, who replaces Theuns Kotze at fly half; Darryl de la Harpe, who replaces JC Greyling at centre; and Thomasua Forbes who replaces James Marx at flank.
In a fourth change, veteran winger David Philander replaces Russel van Wyk at wing.
“We welcome the Suburbs players back, while I’ve made some changes to the team, to give other players an opportunity, so that we can build more depth in the squad,” Jones said.
Some of the more recent members to the squad that Jones has retained include fullback Mahco Prinsloo, scrum half Helarius Kisting, loose forwards Adriaan Booysen and Christo van der Merwe and prop Desiderius Sethie.
The Leopards have started the season well and will be a tough nut to crack on their home ground at Olen Park. They are still unbeaten, after two wins against Boland Cavaliers (47-26) and EP Kings (57-20) and a 42-42 draw against the SWD Eagles.
In their corresponding match against the Welwitschias in Potchefstroom last year, the Leopards ran out comfortable 42-17 winners after leading 21-3 at half time, but the Welwitschias have improved a lot since then, and will be confident of giving a better performance.
The Welwitschias squad is as follows:
Desiderius Sethie, Niel van Vuuren, AJ de Klerk, Ruan Ludick, Max Katjijeko, Adriaan Booysen, Thomasau Forbes, Christo van der Merwe, Helarius Kisting, Eugene Jantjies, David Philander, Darryl de la Harpe, Lesley Klim, Johan Tromp, Mahco Prinsloo.
The substitutes are: Bigman Kaura, Andries Rousseau, Thomas Kali, Denzil van Wyk, Rohan Kitshoff, Dirk von Weidts, Francois Wiese.
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