For Immediate Release
August 4, 2009
U.S. Collegiate All-Americans Name Side to Face South African Universities
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – The 2009 USA Collegiate All-American Touring Side, presented by USA Sevens, LLC., readies for a big challenge as they take on the South African Universities national side at the historic Danie Craven Stadium on Stellenbosch tomorrow at 9 p.m. local time.
Having had a few days off since their win against the Stellenbosch Markotters, the All-Americans have been ratcheting up their preparations for a strong SA Universities Team that features some of South Africa’s best up-and-coming rugby players.
The SA Universities Team comes loaded with players hailing from some of South Africa’s best universities, being led by one of Varsity Cup’s MVP’s No. 8 Willem Van der Wal.
Van der Wal said on www.varsitycup.co.za that he’s “over the moon” to be captaining his side against the All-Americans and that many of the players are already building solid team chemistry.
“The nice thing about this team is that most of the guys know each other already,” he said, “Either from playing against each other or from being teammates in other representative teams… this is another fantastic chance for us to experience rugby at another level.”
All-American head coach Alex Magleby feels his team has come a long ways since their first match last Friday and that they will be ready for the challenge of facing the SA Universities side tomorrow.
“We remain focused on becoming a better team,” Magleby said. “The outcomes will take care of themselves. It’s a fantastic challenge ahead—one that will prove enormous in these athletes’ continued development. We can’t wait.”
Leading out the All-Americans tomorrow will be match-day captain Colin Hawley with vice-captain of the forwards Roland Evans.
The fixture tomorrow evening will be the first of two matches that the SA Universities and All-Americans will play.
The second match will be played as the curtain-raiser for the South Africa/Australia Tri-Nations match at Newlands Stadium this coming Saturday. Tentative kickoff time for Saturday’s match is slated for 1 p.m. local time.
Live scoring and match updates will be available on www.twitter.com/aarugby.
All American Team:
1. Mike Shephard (Indiana University)
2. Joey Brown (Mesa College)
3. Ross Silverman (University of California-Santa Barbara)
4. Cameron Dolan (Life University)
5. Casey Rock (Metro State College)
6. Roland Evans (Arkansas State University)
7. Eddie McKenna (Cal-State Dominguez Hills)
8. Steve St. Pierre (Brigham Young University)
9. Benny Matealonia (Life University)
10. Keegan Englebrecht (California)
11. Dustin Muhn (California)
12. Duncan Kelm (San Diego State University)
13. Dylan Lubbe (Brigham Young University)
14. Blaine Scully (California)
15. Colin Hawley (California)
Replacements:
16. Mike Su’a (Brigham Young University)
17. Nardus Wessels (Arkansas State University)
18. Tom Katzfey (St. Norbert College)
19. Chris Parker (Texas A&M)
20. Tom Pasque (University of Colorado)
21. Brendam O’Meara (St. Mary’s College)
22. Aaron McMasters (Life University)
Head Coach: Alex Magleby (Dartmouth)
Asst. Coaches: Blake Burdette (University of Utah), Luke Gross (USA Rugby), Kimball Kjar (Brogham Young University), Bob Ford (Central Washington University)
Staff: David Williams (Strength & Conditioning), Matt Sherman (USA Rugby Age Grade Director), Niki Blanchflower (Physical Therapy)
The South Africa Universities Team:
1. BG Uys (Pukke)
2. Stoffel Duvenhage (Pukke)
3. Pierre Hammond (NMMU)
4. Jaco Nepgen (Maties)
5. Martin Muller (UCT)
6. Wesley Wilkins (Maties)
7. Sokana Mokana (Fort Hare)
8. Willem van der Wal (Pukke, captain)
9. Donald Stevens (Maties)
10. André Smith (UJ)
11. Ziniko Dumaphi (Fort Hare)
12. Paul Bosch (Maties)
13. Therlow Pietersen (UCT)
14. Clayton Blommetjies (Tuks)
15. Earl Lewis (UJ)
Replacements:
16. Edgar Maruthule (UJ)
17. Lourens Adriaanse (Maties)
18. Jaco Koch (Pukke)
19. Rob Andrew (UJ)
20. Jonathan Adendorf (Maties)
21. Marlin Ruiters (Shimlas)
22. Matthew Rosslee (UCT)
Head Coach: Chean Roux (Maties)
Asst. Coaches: Freddie Grobler (Tuks) and Xolofile Dakushe (Fort Hare)