Draghoender 'speared' for three weeks

University of Stellenbosch centre Dabeon Draghoender, as been suspended for three weeks after his spear tackle on an a University of Cape Town rival in the first round of the Varsity Cup in Cape Town on Monday.

The Stellenbosch outfit, Maties, won the game 12-10 after another hotly contested game between the two Western Cape universities.

The tribunal has made an example of Draghoender and sends out a message to the students not to make themselves guilty of the same transgression. It was initially thought that he would only miss the UJ clash.

With Draghoender out there will be a new midfield partnership, with Jean Stemmet joining Paul Bosch in the centres - when Maties take on the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in Round Two next Monday.

Morné Jooste, who scored the winning try in the final against Ikeys last year, will come in on the wing.

The rest of the Matie side will stay unchanged but there are changes to the bench.

They have picked five forwards on the bench which includes a full front row and junior star Jean-Jacques Rossouw.

Maties: 15 Hayden Groepes, 14 Morné Jooste, 13 Jean Stemmet, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Llewellyn Winkler, 10 Coenie van Wyk, 9 Donald Stevens, 8 Morné Hanekom, 7 JP Mostert, 6 Wesley Wilkens (captain), 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Marinus Pretorius, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 JP Koster, 1 Johan Roets.
Replacements: 16 Matthew Dobson, 17 Jean-Jacques Rossouw, 18 Andrew Crausaz, 19 Erich Laubscher, 20 Jonathan Adendorff, 21 Koos Eksteen, 22 Adnaan Osman.

Date: Monday, February 9
Venue: Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
Kick-off: 7.30pm