Lions vs WP 2015 by South African Rugby Magazines

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CONTENTS president’s message

XEROX message

UJ WINNERS

XEROX GOLDEN LIONS PLAYER PROFILES

XEROX GOLDEN LIONS VS dhl wp - 18H00

CLUB RUGBY

CURTAIN RAISER U/19

curtain raiser u/20

FULL SQUAD LISTS

FIXTURES

PUBLISHER: Annemie Bester • EDITOR: Wim van der Berg • GRAPHIC DESIGN: Apple Undo • ADVERTISING: Annemie Bester GLRU MEDIA LIASON: Annemie Bester • PHOTOGRAPHY: Deon van der Merwe - www.deonvandermerwe.co.za

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Cell: 083 604 0389 • wimvdb@iafrica.com

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Welcome to Emirates Airline Park this afternoon Welcome to Emirates Airline Park for this Currie Cup match between the Xerox Golden Lions and DHL Western Province. A special word of welcome to the President of Western Province, Thelo Wakefield, the management, coaching staff and players. To our Chief Executive Officer Rudolf Straeuli and Equity Partner Altmann Ahlers as well as our Currie Cup title sponsors Xerox and their staff good luck for the day’s activities. We all join in applauding our team for their great performances to date securing us a top of the table spot. A big word of thanks to Johan Ackermann, Swys de Bruin and the rest of our coaching and medical staff and of course our team that are moving us forward to one of the best seasons in Lions Rugby post 1995. Encounters between WP and Lions have always been a wonderful experience and a true spectacle of an attractive brand of running rugby. We trust that the match this afternoon will be no different. Good luck to both teams and we trust that this will be an injury free and enjoyable game for all concerned. Good luck to the appointed referees, your officiating and contributions remains one of the most important parts of the game. Allow me a heartfelt word of thanks and appreciation to all our sponsors. Sponsorships are an essential element of professional sport and the beautiful game of rugby, which we all love so much, would not be able to flourish without loyal sponsors. Most importantly welcome and thank you to our dear supporters – know that your ongoing support is vital for us as a team and organisation. Please keep up the support that our team always needs, it is a huge boost for them to know we are all behind them. Enjoy the day with us here at Emirates Airline Park and come back soon. Kevin de Klerk President: Golden Lions Rugby Union www.lionsrugby.co.za 5

video

xerox message

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO OF BYTES DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS With just two home games remaining in this year’s ABSA Currie Cup competition, the Xerox Golden Lions have a commanding lead over the rest of the teams and are on track for a home semi-final on the 17th October. Two weeks ago the unbeaten Xerox Golden Lions faced the Sharks at Emirates Airline Park and it was not an easy victory - the Lions failed to secure a bonus point for the first time this season and held on to win 26-18. Last Saturday saw the return from injury of 8th man, and Super Rugby captain, Warren Whiteley when the Xerox Golden Lions travelled to Bloemfontein, where they faced the Free State Cheetahs in searing heat of 34 degrees. That didn’t deter the rampant Xerox Golden Lions who scored no less than 10 tries, all of which were converted by Man-Of-The-Match Marnitz Boshoff, who scored 23 points on the day, with 11 out of 11 kicks at posts. It was a demolition derby after a 73-31 victory for the Xerox Golden Lions and a great team effort that made it eight wins out of eight, and a nine-point lead at the top of the log. It is difficult to single out any individual player, as this is a real TEAM that have united so well and with excellent cohesion under coach Johan Ackermann. It is also fantastic to see Marnitz Boshoff back to the form that he displayed prior to the injury that kept him out of most of last season. This evening the Xerox Golden Lions will seek revenge for last season’s final defeat at the hands of Western Province and need your support to secure that home semi-final on the 17th October. On behalf of all of us at Bytes Document Solutions and Xerox, I would like to thank you for your continued support – it has made a tremendous difference to the team. Please join me in wishing our boys all the best for this game, the semi-finals and hopefully a home final on the 24th October. To the team: we are exceptionally proud of you for your awesome display of pride, team work and discipline during this season. We are behind you all the way and know that you won’t disappoint. Good luck! Johan Basson CEO of Bytes Document Solutions www.lionsrugby.co.za 7

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UJ CLAIMS FIFTH CHALLENGE TITL By: Piet Ebersohn The University of Johannesburg (UJ) claimed its 14th Pirates Grand Challenge title since sharing the cup with Alberton in 1979, then still the Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit (RAU). This was their fifth title in six years. Roodepoort, who won the competition by virtue of finishing first on the log when no final was played, spoiled an otherwise outstanding run by UJ in 2013 who won the Predator league that year. 10 www.lionsrugby.co.za

In the same period since RAUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first win in 1979, Roodepoort have won eight times and NWU Pukke seven times, giving the Johannesburg students a clear ascendency in the title stakes. Crowning an exciting and highly successful Golden Lions league season, UJ beat NWU Pukke (a Leopards club playing in the league) 33-22 to win their fifth PGC crown in six years. The Potchefstroom outfit had the upper hand in the two round robin matches, but the students from Westdene turned the tables when it

H PIRATES GRAND LE IN SIX YEARS mattered most. UJ and Pukke totally dominated the PGC leagues and contested every one of the five finals between them. The Johannesburg students eventually won four out of five, adding victories of 31-19 for the second stringers, 36-7 for the Under-21s, and 39-23 for the Under-19s. Pukke III beat UJ III 22-14. • The young, but very able, University of the

Witwatersrand team beat Randfontein 29-23 to claim the Pirates Grand Challenge Plate. • Diggers, traditionally one of the mainstays of the union’s club scene but now relegated to the Senior Grand Challenge, capped a good season by reaching all four finals of that league, with their first and second teams eventually taking home their respective trophies. • The first team beat Harlequins decisively 44-5 and the seconds beat Khosa 15-10. www.lionsrugby.co.za 11

Germiston Simmer’s third team won 20-7; and Harlequins Under-20 won 22-10. • Jabulani and Midrand Stingers between them contested the three President’s League finals. Jabulani’s first team won 30-15; Stingers II won 26-17; and Stingers Under 20 28-0. • Accolades were heaped upon Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) Manager Amateur Rugby, Pieter Visser, for the efficient way the club leagues were run, amongst other claiming it to be the best in the country. Although there initially was great concern about the huge divide between the strength of the top and bottom clubs, causing unhealthy runaway scores, playing strength to strength in the latter part of the season proved to be an undeniable success. UJ and Pukke still dominated, but there was little to choose between the open clubs that remained in the PGC (Pirates, Raiders, Roodepoort and Wanderers) and they keenly contested the second leg of the league. They also provided a much stronger challenge to the students, Pirates even managing a 22-all draw with Pukke. Visser believes the presence of a super club like Pukke in the league contributed much in recent years to build the PGC into one of the strongest club leagues in South Africa. • After winning the first round of the SGC Johannesburg Police were promoted to the PGC Plate where they made a promising start by beating first Alberton 26-24 and then Union 37-18. The Bobbies ascendance, however, came to an abrupt and rude halt when the eventual Plate winner, Wits, beat them 88-0 in their third promoted match. The Police club’s administrators acknowledge the fact that it will take hard work to get the club up to scratch with the challenges of the PGC and are already hard at work to improve the Bobbies’ 12 www.lionsrugby.co.za

competiveness next year. • A problem that needs addressing is the unacceptably large occurrence of withdrawals and no-shows, especially at the lower levels of the SGC. This caused a lot of frustration for clubs wasting scarce resources when incurring high travelling costs and fruitless player expenses only to find

that their opponents did not turn up. There was also the reality that players in the lower ranks continuously missed out on matches and found their efforts a waste of time. Many of them eventually stop playing rugby, proving detrimental to the future of the game itself within the GLRUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s borders.

due to withdrawals and no-shows need to take a good, hard look at their level of commitment to the game of rugby. A solution has to be found for the sake of rugby in the Greater Johannesburg area.

Clubs who end up with negative log points running to -7 and -16 as a result of penalisation www.lionsrugby.co.za 13

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FULL PLAYER PROFILES â&#x20AC;˘ XEROX golden LIONS Vs DHL WESTERN PROVINCE

Born: 21/02/92 Height: 1.90m Weight: 106kg @Fabba08

FABIAN BOOYSEN

Born: 26/07/89 Height: 1.81m Weight: 85kg

Ross Cronje

Born: 14/06/94 Height: 2.00m Weight: 118kg

Lourens Erasmus

Born: 11/01/89 Height: 1.78m Weight: 86kg @MarnitzBos

Marnitz Boshoff

Born: 01/01/92 Height: 1.84m Weight: 103kg

@stephan6forever

Steph de Witt

Born: 17/05/89 Height: 1.93m Weight: 96kg

@Stokkies13

Stokkies Hanekom

Born: 21/08/89 Height: 1.84m Weight: 100kg @jacok6

Jaco Kriel (c)

Born: 01/03/1990 Height: 1.82m Weight: 92kg

andries Coetzee

Born: 16/09/90 Height: 1.86m Weight: 112kg @dreyer_ruan

Ruan Dreyer

Born: 11/09/94 Height: 1.84m Weight: 105kg

Rohan Janse van Rensburg

Born: 13/07/94 Height: 1.89m Weight: 114kg

Malcolm Marx www.lionsrugby.co.za 17

18 www.lionsrugby.co.za

FULL PLAYER PROFILES â&#x20AC;˘ XEROX golden LIONS VS DHL WESTERN PROVINCE

Born: 13/07/89 Height: 1.83m Weight: 98kg

Howard Mnisi

Born: 11/09/89 Height: 1.76m Weight: 113kg @julianred3

Julian Redelinghuys

Born: 06/11/93 Height: 1.80m Weight: 90kg @smithkwagga

Kwagga Smith

Born: 27/11/90 Height: 1.97m Weight: 115kg @Franco_ Mostert

Franco Mostert

Born: 24/07/91 Height: 1.83m Weight: 92kg @skosan14

Courtnall Skosan Born: 01/02/94 Height: 1.82m Weight: 88kg @vdWaltJACO

Jaco van der Walt

Born: 09/06/92 Height: 1.77m Weight: 102kg

Mark Pretorius

Born: 26/02/94 Height: 1.81m Weight: 102kg

Dylan Smith Born: 10/02/90 Height: 1.82m Weight: 100kg

Anthony Volmink

Born: 18/09/87 Height: 1.93m Weight: 105kg CC Caps: 52 @WarrenWhiteley

Warren Whiteley www.lionsrugby.co.za 19

15 Andries Coetzee

11 Anthony Volmink

14 CourtnalL Skosan

13 Rohan Janse van Rensburg

12 Howard Mnisi

10 Marnitz Boshoff

9 Ross Cronje

7 Steph de Witt

8 Warren Whiteley

5 Franco Mostert

3 JULIAN REDELINGHUYS

6 Jaco Kriel (C)

4 Lourens Erasmus

2 Malcolm Marx

1 Dylan Smith

Friday, 2 October 2015

Replacements: 16. Mark Pretorius • 17. Ruan Dreyer 18. Fabian Booysen • 19. Kwagga Smith • 20. Jaco van der Walt 21. Stokkies Hanekom Head Coach: Johan Ackermann • Manager: Mustapha Boomgaard 20 www.lionsrugby.co.za

15 Cheslin Kolbe

14 Kobus van Wyk

11 Seabelo Senatla

13 Johnny Kotze

12 Juan de Jongh (c)

10 Robert du Preez

9 Nic Groom

6 Chris Cloete

7 Sikhumbuzo Notshe

8 Nizaam Carr

4 Jean Kleyn

1 Steven Kitshoff

5 Ruan Botha

2 Bongi Mbonambi

3 Wilco Louw

Kick-off: 18h00

Replacements: 16. Michael Willemse • 17. Oli Kebble • 18. Chris van Zyl 19. Jurie van Vuuren • 20. Godlen Masimla 21. Kurt Coleman • 22. Huw Jones Head coach: John Dobson • Manager: Chippie Solomon www.lionsrugby.co.za 21

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Stingers Ambitious and successful newcomers

By: Piet Ebersohn To win two out of three competitions in its first year of league rugby is an achievement most clubs only dream of. This is, however, what the Midrand-based Tshuma Stingers achieved this year. Their first, second and Under-20 teams reached the final of the President’s League of the Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) and the latter two won their matches. The club’s owner, Ndumiso Tshuma, says the club was established in 2013. “From humble beginnings, we formalised our activities in 2014 through registering our company Tshuma Stingers Rugby operating as Tshuma Stingers Rugby Club. This year we are celebrating our second anniversary since the start of operations. “In 2015 we affiliated with the GLRU and it was our first official rugby games played when we competed in the Senior Grand Challenge and President’s League.” Tshuma says there was an increase in the number of players since Stingers’ entry into this competition. “Our relationship with the Union and its affiliate members has exposed us to the real world of rugby. We have since improved on our skills on 24 www.lionsrugby.co.za

and off the field. This can only mean that we are slowly but surely building a power house.” It is clear that the club, based at Midrand High School, has overcome some of its initial problems such as few to no players, a lack of financing and no playing fields. Tshuma says the club’s programme runs all year round. “Our season starts in April and finishes in September, followed by off-season training from November to December. We have our preseason training in February and March. We train every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.” Tshuma is proud of the club’s success since affiliation to GLRU. “We field three teams week after week. Our boys bravely and ably competed head-on with teams that have been at it for years already. We are incredibly proud that in our first year we found ourselves competing in the finals of the President’s League against Jabulani; the Under 20s winning 28-0 and the second team 2617. Although our first team lost 15-30 our boys fought for each other on that field like soldiers in battle. We could not be more proud. “This attests to the unrelenting hard work, passion, commitment and can-do attitude of the founders of Tshuma Stingers Rugby and its very capable and generous management team.

“We have a great passion for the sport and we want to see the players being exposed to rugby, being comfortable that it is a sport for them and growing from strength to strength in their knowledge of and performance in the sport. “We believe in ‘on time, on point and responsive administration’ as the backbone of a strong organisation. “Our players put their bodies on the line for this team because we all believe in the vision of a club that is here to stay and will continue to play a leading role in the development of a disciplined, respectful and skilled player corps.” Tshuma says team work is of paramount importance. “At this development stage we have over 50 active players. We believe in each and every one of our players who has put on our jersey and stepped on the field of play. All our players are stars and they shine for one another. “This season we have witnessed amazing brotherhood, players putting their bodies on the line for the man next to them, fighting from the start to the end of matches.” On the short to medium term Tshuma wants the club to continue its growth with more players joining the club. It is his vision to promote rugby at grassroots and youth level from which the club will draw players going forward.

with growth in skills, confidence and knowledge taking a centre stage in the development of rugby from grass roots level to national and international levels.” Tshuma says Stingers is converting the company into a non-profit organisation and inviting sponsorship for much needed essentials such as kit, training material, field lighting and transport for the players – most of whom fight the forces every day just to make it to and from practice and to fulfil other needs. The club is also looking for corporate partners, which can play a leading role in the development of the sport in the community. “We are in a position to align corporate partners’ efforts to ensure that organisations’ marketing objectives are met and their brand awareness is enhanced,” Tshuma says.

Visit the club website at www.tshumastingersrugby.co.za; or contact Tshuma at ndumiso@ tshumastingersrugby.co.za or 078 266 0723 for more information about the club.

“As the saying goes, Rome was not built in one day, but Rome was built because there was an effort. It is our long term vision to play in the Community Cup.” The Stingers Club dreams big. Eventually they want to produce players that can hold their own in the Currie Cup, Super Rugby and even on an international level. “In the long run we see the players that we are developing playing and dominating in the World Cup. Our vision is to see our management team www.lionsrugby.co.za 25

FREEZE

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Dylan Smith Photo: deonvandermerwe.co.za

FREEZE

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FULL SQUAD LISTS • XEROX golden LIONS Vs DHL WESTERN PROVINCE

Xerox Golden Lions squad Justin Ackerman • Fabian Booysen • Marnitz Boshoff • Andries Coetzee • Robbie Coetzee Ruan Combrinck • Ross Cronje • Stephan De Witt • Ruan Dreyer • Lourens Eramus Stokkies Hanekom • Alwyn Hollenbach • Lohan Jacobs • Jaco Kriel • Ruaan Lerm MB Lusaseni • Malcolm Marx • Sampie Mastriet • Derick Minnie • Howard Mnisi Franco Mostert • Martin Muller • Jacques Nel • Mark Pretorius • Julian Redelinghuys Mark Richards • Rick Schroeder • Courtnall Skosan • Kwagga Smith • Jaco Van der Walt Jacques Van Rooyen • Anthony Volmink • Harold Vorster • Vainon Willis • Lourens Erasmus

Xerox Golden Lions TEAM MANAGEMENT HEAD COACH: JOHAN ACKERMANN ASSISTANT COACH: SWYS DE BRUIN ASSISTANT COACH (Defence): JP Ferreira TEAM MANAGER: MUSTAPHA BOOMGAARD ASSISTANT TEAM MANAGER: JOHANE SINGWANE TEAM DOCTOR: DR ROB COLLINS • PHYSIOTHERAPIST: DAVID VAN WYK STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH: IVAN VAN ROOYEN TECHNICAL/PERFORMANCE ANALYST: JP FERREIRA

dhl western province SQUAD Vincent Koch • Frans malherbe • Manuel Carriza • Eben Etzebeth • Michael Rhodes Schalk Burger • Siya Kolisi • Duane Vermeulen • Jean de Villiers • Damian de Allende Scarra Ntubeni • Bongi Mbonambi • Michael Willemse • Neil Rautenbach • Vincent Koch Alistair Vermaak • Wilco Louw 8 Steven Kitshoff • Oliver Kebble • Frans Malherbe Jean Kleyn • Manuel Carizza • Ruan Botha • Jurie van Vuuren • Eben Etzebeth Michael Rhodes • Rynhardt Elstadt • Schalk Burger • Siya Kolisi • Duane Vermeulen Nizaam Carr • Sikhumbuzo Notshe • Louis Schreuder • Nic Groom • Godlen Masimla Demetri Catrakilis • Kurt Coleman • Robert du Preez • Jean de Villiers • Juan de Jongh Damian de Allende • Pat Howard • Huw Jones • Johnny Kotze • Cheslin Kolbe Kobus van Wyk • Jaco Taute • EW Viljoen • Dillyn Leyds • Ryno Eksteen

DHL Western Province Team management Director of Rugby: Gert Smal Head coach: John Dobson Assistant coaches: Dawie Snyman and Paul Treu Manager: Chippie Solomon

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ABSA CURRIE CUP RUGBY FIXTURES AUGUST 2015 08