Villagers to finish what they start

If Steinhoff Villagers can finish the majority of the chances they create, they should come away with the spoils in their last-round Steinhoff Koshuisliga fixture this coming Monday.

They face Patriot of TUT in Pretoria and must win, or at least get two bonus points, to finish in second spot on the Northern log and, in so doing, guarantee themselves a place in the 2010 Steinhoff Koshuisliga semifinals.

Villagers, who - of course - hail from Potchefstroom, lost narrowly to Steinhoff Maroela (Tuks) last week, after leading for most of the match. They created enough scoring chances, but failed to turn those opportunities into points.

And according to the captain of the Villagers team, Albert Sorgdrager, they simply must convert these opportunities into points when they play Patriot - something they failed to do against Maroela.

"We also gave away too many penalties, especially in kicking range," he said. "It wasn't a case that we were ill-disciplined, but rather that the guys were too eager."

Sorgdrager is hoping his players will be better equipped at the breakdown on Monday, and he added: "We struggled somewhat with the new interpretation against Maroela. Both our flankers are petty effective at ruck time, but that efficiency is now reduced by the new interpretation.

"I mean, at Koshuis level, it takes a while for the players to get familiar with what referees want at the breakdowns. We will have to be more efficient at this crucial aspect of the game," he told varsitycup.co.za.

Meanwhile, coach Sarel van Rensburg has made a few tactical changes to his team for Monday's must-win fixture.

Left wing Dylan Daniel has been dropped and he has been replaced by Johan de Kock. At scrumhalf, JD Joubert gets a chance to start, with Francois Wolfaardt reverting to the bench.

Van Rensburg has also moved regular lock Jan Breedt to No.8, with Pelser Uys in the second row. In the final change to the Villagers pack, Llewellyn van Blerk (who has a knee injury) has been replaced by Tielman Roos.

"Llewellyn is one of our main ball-carriers, so to lose him is quite a setback," Sorgdrager said.

The Steinhoff Villagers team: 15 Jeandré Small, 14 Kevin Thompson, 13 Dirk Fourie, 12 Wally Dreyer, 11 Johan de Kock, 10 WD Botha, 9 JD Joubert, 8 Jan Breedt, 7 Tielman Roos, 6 Thys Ellis, 5 Pelser Uys, 4 Albert Sorgdrager (captain), 3 Sarel Janse van Rensburg, 2 Wessel van der Merwe, 1 Conrad Lombaard.
Replacements: 16 Ferdie Nieman, 17 Dylan Herbert, 18 Dan Bensusan, 19 Bernie van Rooyen, 20 Francois Wolfaardt, 21 Divan Vosloo, 22 George Bensusan.
 
Head coach: Sarel van Rensburg
 
Date: Monday, March 15
Kick-off: 5pm
Venue: TUT Stadium

By Ruan Bruwer