Van Zyl fit to face Falcons
Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:13
Boland centre Piet van Zyl is back from injury and ready to lead the team in Friday's Currie Cup match against the Falcons at Wellington, coach Deon Davids said.
Van Zyl missed the Cavaliers' last two matches due to a groin injury.
"Piet recovered well and is almost certain to lead the team.
"He is a very experienced player who could play a major role for us in the second round of the competition," Davids said.
If Van Zyl returns to the side, it would probably be at the unfortunate expense of young Cornell Hendricks, who made a good debut against the Cheetahs last weekend.
Sevens Springbok Frankie Horne will miss the game because of a broken finger and his place in the No.7 jersey could be taken by either Whalied Heyns or Angelo Brinkhuys.
Lock forward Frikkie Spies is also sidelined with an upper back injury.
But Davids is lucky to have towering Nico Esterhuyze back from Namibia where he represented them in a World Cup qualifying match in Windhoek.
Esterhuyze, or the ever-improving Cecil Kemp, will partner Bradley Mockford in the line-outs.
Meanwhile, Davids instructed his troops that nothing less than five points will satisfy him.
The Cavaliers need a solid start to the second round and there is no better way to do it than at home against one of the weaker sides in the competition.
The Bolanders have won their last four encounters with the East Randers and Falcons coach Rudy Joubert will obviously want to put the matter straight.
SAPA
