Bitter Mahoney blow for Pukke
The FNB NWU-Pukke will go into Monday evening's Varsity Cup semifinal clash against the FNB Maties, in Stellenbosch, without their scrumhalf and talisman Andries Mahoney.
Mahoney suffered light concussion against the selfsame Maties team this past Monday and will be out for a week - meaning he could be available for a possible final should the Pukke shock the defending champions at home.
It is, however, a bitter blow for last year's losing finalists ahead of Monday, as the combative No.9 has been one of the form men in 2010 - winning numerous Player that Rocks Awards (Man of the Match) along the way.
"It is a big loss for us," Pukke coach Rudy Joubert told varsitycup.co.za. "Andries has plenty of experience and, of course, has been in great form for us this season.
"At the same time, however, I have plenty of faith in Janis (Terblanche) who will wear the No.9 shirt against the Maties. He is more physical than Andries, and adds a different dimension, whilst his form this year has also impressed me."
In other changes to the Pukke line-up that went down 17-33 to the back-to-back champions in Potchefstrom earlier this week, SP Marais takes over the No.14 shirt from Ghafoer Luckan and Kempie Rautenbach replaces Ruan Jacobs at outside centre.
"Ruan's hand is a bit banged up after being stood on (on Monday), but Kempie has done nothing wrong for us this season and I wanted to give him the chance," explained the former Springbok assistant coach.
Whilst nobody is giving the Men from Potchefstroom any chance of upsetting the Men in Maroon on their own turf, Joubert is quietly confident ahead of Monday, which - of course - is a repeat of last year's final.
"If I didn't think we had a chance, what would the point be of even arriving on Monday?
"I believe we were very unlucky against them this past week," added Joubert, "the scoreboard doesn't tell the full story, and I am looking forward to the match - as are my players."
The FNB Pukke team: 15 Theuns Kotzé, 14 SP Marais, 13 Kempie Rautenbach, 12 Wouter Watermeyer, 11 Johannes Seerane, 10 Neill Jacobs, 9 Janis Terblanche, 8 PJ van Zyl, 7 Thabo Molete, 6 Siya Mdaka, 5 Markus Fourie, 4 Francois Robbertse, 3 Stephanus Bezuidenhout, 2 Stoffel Duvenage (captain), 1 BG Uys.
Replacements: 16 BW van Dyk, 17 Dewald Coetzee, 18 Edwin Hewitt, 19 Jaco Lötter, 20 Willem Barnard, 21 Ghafoer Luckan, 22 Dane Johnson, 23 Johan Coetzee.
Head coach: Rudy Joubert
Date: Monday, March 22
Venue: Danie Craven Stadium
Kick-off: 6.30pm (Live on SuperSport One)
Referee: Dilbert November
By Howard Kahn