Roux changes six for American rematch

Chean Roux, the SA Universities' head coach, has made six changes to his team's starting line-up for Saturday's second clash against the Collegiate All-Americans at Newlands.

With the SA Universities having won Wednesday's first fixture in Stellenbosch, by a comfortable margin of 72-14, Roux has given his team a slight overhaul ahead of the return clash - a game that will see his charges play the curtain-raiser to the Springboks versus Wallabies Tri-Nations match. (Kick-off 2.15pm.)

Star Pukke No.8 Willem van der Wal (pictured, middle) will once again captain a well-balanced and talented team - all of whom have passed through the Varsity Cup system in one way or another, be it in the tournament proper or promotion/relegation matches.

Roux has made four changes to the SA Universities' backline - one of which is positional - and two switches up front, with winger Morné Jooste, centre Tim Whitehead, scrumhalf Marlin Ruiters and tighthead prop Lourens Adriaanse all earning starts, after coming off the bench on Wednesday evening.

The positional switch sees UCT's Matthew Rosslee move from inside centre to flyhalf and with his Ikeys colleagues at No.12 (Whitehead) and No.13 (Therlow Pietersen), respectively, there should be plenty of attacking thrust coming from the 10-12-13 channels.

Powerhouse Maties flanker Cameron Peverett was not involved at all on Wednesday, but he gets a chance in the No.7 shirt on Saturday, with Fort Hare's Sokana Mokana taking a break after a busy display in the first game.

Fit-again Pukke prop Jaco Koch is one of three new faces on the bench; along with Maties centres Jean Stemmet and Paul Bosch - the latter set return to Cape Town from Kimberley (where he is on Currie Cup bench duty with Western Province on Friday) in order to take his place amongst the replacements.

Double Varsity Cup champions, Maties, are once again the leaders in terms of overall representation with five players in the starting line-up, followed by UCT with four and Pukke with three. Maties, however, have an additional four players on the bench - giving them a total of nine players in the matchday 22.

"It's quite odd playing against the same opponents in the space of just a few days, but it's also nice (at the same time) as we've been able to give all the players in the squad an opportunity in some way or another - either on Wednesday or this Saturday," head coach Roux told varsitycup.co.za.

"We've got a few variations in our game to work on (from Wednesday) and I think the guys are all very excited at the prospect of playing in a Tri-Nations curtain-raiser."

Captain Van der Wal - who led from the front in the first match - added: "Playing in a curtain-raiser to a Springbok Test match is a special moment and we're hoping to end what has been a great week on a high.

"Wednesday's match was an enjoyable one, despite not knowing much about our opponents, and with one game under the belt (and up against the same team) we're hoping to come out firing on Saturday."

The SA Universities team:

15 Earl Lewis (UJ)
14 Morné Jooste (Maties)
13 Therlow Pietersen (UCT)
12 Tim Whitehead (UCT)
11 Ziniko Dumaphi (Fort Hare)
10 Matthew Rosslee (UCT)
9 Marlin Ruiters (Shimlas)
8 Willem van der Wal (Pukke, captain)
7 Cameron Peverett (Maties)
6 Wesley Wilkins (Maties)
5 Martin Muller (UCT)
4 Jaco Nepgen (Maties)
3 Lourens Adriaanse (Maties)
2 Stoffel Duvenhage (Pukke)
1 BG Uys (Pukke)

Replacements:
16 Edgar Maruthule (UJ)
17 Jaco Koch (Pukke)
18 Rob Andrew (UJ)
19 Jonathan Adendorf (Maties)
20 Donald Stevens (Maties)
21 Paul Bosch (Maties)
22 Jean Stemmet (Maties)

Head coach: Chean Roux (Maties)
Assistant coaches: Freddie Grobler (Tuks) and Xolofile Dakushe (Fort Hare)

Kick-off: 2.15pm, Newlands Rugby Stadium (Cape Town)