Lions make educated move
BHASERA: YOUNG ZIMBABWEAN SET TO MAKE DEBUT
Rated by his coach Ivan van Rooyen as one of the most intelligent rugby players he has met, new Lions prop Stephen Bhasera is set to make his Currie Cup debut tomorrow.
Bhasera has been named on the bench as Van Rooyen named three changes to his starting team for the clash against the Free State Cheetahs at Ellis Park.
When he was headboy in matric at Falcon in Zimbabwe, Bhasera passed his Cambridge University entrance exams with flying colours in History, English Literature and Geography.
“Stephen must rate as one of the five most intelligent people I’ve ever met,” said Van Rooyen yesterday about the 22-year-old who is in his fourth year as an LLB law student.
“I’m very excited over him. He’s a youngster that has been given an opportunity and he brings a different flavour to the team which is awesome,” he said.
With fullback Andries Coetzee given a rest, wing Sylvian Mahuza has moved from rightwing to No 15, with speedster Madosh Tambwe taking his place.
Up front Pieter Jansen starts ahead of Corne Fourie at hooker, while at tighthead, veteran Jacobie Adriaanse gets a start with Johannes Jonker ruled out with an arm injury.
Being one of just three unbeaten teams left in the competition, Van Rooyen added that it was a boost for them to have both Fourie and captain Marvin Orie being cleared from possible concussion last week.
“We are obviously very happy about the two wins, but there’s a lot of stuff we had to work on this week, things we still need to improve on,” he said.
“As long as we keep on moving forward in terms of player development and skill development, we’ll be making progress.”
Van Rooyen however highlighted some areas where they need to show more intensity.
“We need to show a little bit more respect for the ball. We are losing possession too often and not through pressure but our own mistakes. So the focus is on being a little bit more clinical in attack, sticking to the system on defence and working hard,” he said.