Captain's Profile: Adriaan van der Bank

The quaint town of Worcester will come to a stand-still when Worcester Gimnasium host arch-rivals HTS Drostdy in a gigantic Classic Clash encounter.

Leading the charge for Worcester Gim is flyhalf Adriaan van der Bank who believes his ability to spot space will be key to the success of the team in what is sure to be a physical battle.

"We know they will come out with a big pack of forwards and play a very physical game. Unfortunately for us, we have not managed to beat them in 12 previous years, so we are definitely the underdogs and hopefully we can pull off an upset.

"We have been playing really well this year thus far and are hoping to continue our progress. We will be fielding an experienced team with 11 of our players having played last year. We are struggling a little with injuries to two key players but we will be taking the risk and have them start the match," he said.

The Grade 12 pupil boasts approximately 40 caps for the first XV and has represented Boland in the Grant Khomo and Craven Weeks respectively, and described those tournaments as "unbelievable experiences that produced high tempo, physical and fast-paced matches."

Van der Bank is honoured to be leading his side in such a big match and believes his positive attitude will be crucial to helping the team achieve success.

"It is a major honour to be the captain of this team and I make sure that I am positive all the time because that will rub off on the rest of the team in order for them to produce their best on the field," he added.

The pivot will be sharing the message of "one more thing, one more time" with his team as they set out to claim the biggest upset and hopes to one day make a career from playing the sport.