Injuries to both Tyler Fisher (whiplash) and Mike Bernhardt (hamstring) have opened the door for former Maritzburg College centre Matt Phillips to start for the Sharks under 19 side this week.
Fisher, who has built on his strong SA Schools pedigree in scoring twice in two outings, picked up the injury during last Friday’s good win against SWD and with his designated backup, Oakdale’s Bernhardt, having tore his hammy in training, the team named to face the Lions this weekend will feature a new face in the number 13 jersey. Phillips, who is a stocky lad of 95-odd kilos, will line up alongside the massiv Gareth Meikle in a midfield unlikely to let too much traffic through.
The Lions under 19 side recorded just their first win in three starts last week, beating the Leopards 43-15 and with the Sharks needing just 2 points from this match to leapfrog the Blue Bulls at the head of the table, there’s a huge amount to play for. The game kicks off at 4pm on Friday and will take place at Kings Park.
Those who can get down to the game are encouraged to do so, if for no other reason than to watch exciting young flanker Andrew van Tonder, fast emerging as one of the unexpected stars in this side.
Sharks under 19:
15 Sean Robinson, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Matt Phillips, 12 Gareth Meikle, 11 Alcino Izaacs, 10 Robb du Preez (capt), 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Jean Pretorius, 7 Andrew van Tonder, 6 Hendrik Uys, 5 Myles Tucker, 4 Dave Fisher, 3 Richie Palframan, 2 Morne du Plessis, 1 Nic Roebeck
16 Warrick Venter, 17 John-Hubert Meyer, 18 Louis Hazelhurst , 19 Theo Kruger, 20 Bokkie Carstens, 21 Brendan Cope, 22 Sphu Msutwana , 23 Matt Jones
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Is there anywhere we can get the stats of these players?
Did I miss the part where Sphu Msutwana was changed from outside centre,cause surely if he was on the bench for the other matches,his elevation to the starting XV is what 1 would be expected and he is an outside centre after all
@Argex (Comment 1) : what stats?
@robdylan (Comment 3) : Love the banner Rob – awesome job
@FireTheLooser (Comment 4) : just for you!
Height, weight etc.
@Argex (Comment 6) : start here:
http://www.sarugby.net/teams.aspx?id=12011&category=&leagueid=0
Thank you very much!! These u19′s are doing pretty well so far.
Thanks for the stats. Glad to see phillips starting. Agree. U19′s doing well.