Joubert changes 10 Falcons
Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:09
The Falcons team had a major overhaul for their Currie Cup Round Eight match against Boland in Wellington on Friday. No fewer than 10 changes were made to the team which conceded 50 points against the Blue Bulls.
There are six changes among the backs, four in the pack and another five on the bench.
The only new face in the squad is that of TUT lock Johan de Bruin, who has been included in a forward dominated bench with Ruhan van Jaarsveld, who locked the scrum against the Bulls.
Flyhalf Riaan Smit has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
The 10 changes include Johan Jackson, who has played outside centre for the past two games, moving to fullback; Ernie Kruger, one of the stars of the early season, comes back on the right wing; Rouan Cloete also returns from injury to takes his rightful place at outside centre; captain Hanno Coetzee returns at inside centre to add stability to the midfield; Dewald
Pretorius moves back to the wing after replacing Coetzee at inside centre against the Bulls; Len Olivier moves from fullback to flyhalf to replace the injured Riaan Smit; Reg Muller has been preferred to Emile Verster on the side of the scrum to add speed to the loose forwards; Marius Coetzer comes back at five lock to oust Van Jaarsveld, who was very physical against the Blue Bulls; former SA Under-21 hooker Jody Jeneker gets his first start in the front row and former hooker Frik Venter starts at loose head where Gavin Whittingham has been relegated to the bench.
Former Bulls prop Rassie van Vuuren might join the bench as the extra hooker and the versatile Poerie van Rooyen comes onto the bench.
Falcons: 15 Johan Jackson, 14 Ernie Kruger, 13 Rouan Cloete, 12 Hanno Coetzee, 11 Dewald Pretorius, 10 Len Olivier, 9 Gerrie Odendaal, 8 Sean Plaatjies, 7 Reg Muller, 6 Warren Perkins, 5 Marius Coetzer, 4 Wouter Moore, 3 Nico Pretorius, 2 Jody Jeneker, 1
Frik Venter.
Replacements: 16 Gavin Whittingham, 17 Rassie van Vuuren, 18 Rayno Barnes, 19 Ruhan van Jaarsveld, 20 Johan de Bruin, 21 Poerie van Rooyen, 22 Jeff Perkins.
Date: Friday, August 8
Venue: Boland Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 16.00 (14.00 GMT)
Referee: Deon van Blommestein
Touch judges: Jerome America, Linston Manuels
