Melvin Lazarus – Wesbank captain
Player Profile
Malmesbury plays host to a FNB Classic Clash on Saturday as local schools Schoonspruit and Wesbank face each other in the town derby. Melvin Lazarus captains the underdogs on their big day out.
Melvin Lazarus was born in the Swartland Hospital in Malmesbury on 8 November 1988. He went to the St Thomas primary school in the town, where he played most flyhalf and captained the 1st team (Under-13A).
He moved Wesbank in Grade 8 (Std 6) and changed position to flank. The move proved an immediate success and he was selected for the 1stXV when he was in Grade 9. Now only in Grade 11 this is his third year in the 1stXV.
Not having played any representative rugby the highlight of Melvin’s career to date was his selection for the FNB Invitation XV that went to the prestigious St Stithian’s College Festival over Easter. It was Melvin’s first trip to Gauteng and he learnt a lot watching some of the top schools in the country do battle.
Melvin describes himself as a fetcher flank and not surprisingly his two favourite players are Schalk Burger and Luke Watson. Like Melvin both his idols play to the ball and both are natural leaders. Melvin is more than just a fetcher though and blessed with natural speed he likes to run with the ball. In addition, he described his defence as “rock solid”.
Wesbank are having a good season and have lost only one match so far, to Swartland. They have a good set of backs and will be looking to run Schoonspruit ragged on Saturday. Schoonspruit are unbeaten this season and go into the game as favourites. Melvin says his team’s preparation has been good and although he is expecting a tough game he has confidence in his team’s ability to beat to odds.
Wesbank and Schoonspruit only meet once a season. Melvin says that he is extremely proud and honoured to be leading his team and his school in this fixture. His target when he leaves school in to make it into the Boland Rugby Academy but for the next few days his focus is firmly on winning the local derby.