SANLAM Boland Cavaliers coach Hawies Fourie confirmed the signing of five new players as he bolstered his side ahead of the start of this season’s Currie Cup Premier Division.
Boland will return to the top tier of Currie Cup rugby after finishing in fourth place in the recently completed SA Cup competition. And after the Kavas last played in the Premier Division in 2016.
Former Springbok scrumhalf, Louis Schreuder, who recently helped Bath win the European Challenge Cup and English Premiership, has linked up with the Cavas and will add a great deal of experience to the backline.
Schreuder is also a proven winner of the Carling Black Label Currie Cup, having been part of the Hollywoodbets Sharks team that won the 2018 edition and the DHL Western Province side that won in 2012.
Boland has also secured the services of World Rugby SVNS Series championship-winning Springbok Sevens stars David Brits and Donovan Don.
“There are quite a few new players that we have contracted to make our squad a bit bigger and stronger for the [Carling Black Label] Currie Cup,” says Fourie.
“Up front we signed tighthead prop Laurence Victor from the [Toyota] Cheetahs and [Airlink] Pumas hooker Llewellyn Classen.
“We have also signed loose-forward Sbu [Sibusiso] Sangweni, who played on a match fees deal for us during the SA Cup, and we have now given him a contract after he really performed well and impressed us with his work ethic and drive.
“Former Maties flyhalf Juan Mostert, who recently played at Rovigo in Italy and was at the Bulls before that, has also joined us.”
Fourie was also particularly proud to announce the return of a home-grown player as the Sanlam Boland Cavaliers boss confirmed that Saron-born winger Marcqiewn Titus is back in the Boland after a tenure at the Griquas.
On the injury front, the Sanlam Boland Cavaliers also received some good news with locks Marlyn Williams and Ameer Hendricks returning to full fitness after missing a large part of and the entire SA Cup campaign.
“They [Williams and Hendricks] are ready and available to play in our friendlies against Griquas and Western Province on 11 and 13 July.
“We are looking forward to having them back as we were quite thin at lock during the SA Cup with Schalk Oelofse and Michael Benadie doing the brunt of the work in our engine room and loose-forward Khwezi Mafu showing his versatility by playing a lot of games in the second row.
“So, it will be really good to have those two guys back.”
The Sanlam Boland Cavaliers are currently three weeks into their preparations for their return to the Carling Black Label Currie Cup, which kicks off with a home game against the Toyota Cheetahs on Sunday, 27 July at Boland Rugby Stadium in Wellington.
Fourie is expecting the encounter to be a wet affair as the Western Cape is known for its torrential downpours during the winter.
He believes the preparations have been going and weather is playing a big part in how they are preparing for their big Currie Cup return, saying: “The guys are really looking forward to playing in the Premier Division – the first time since 2016 that we get this opportunity. We know a difficult task awaits us, but we are eager to test ourselves against the other seven teams competing in the competition.
“The SA Cup was good in terms of our preparations for the Currie Cup. We could gauge where we still had shortcomings and where we lagged behind the other teams. We are not far behind, having beaten the Cheetahs in the SA Cup and suffered close losses against the Pumas and Griquas.
“So, we know we can compete, and we also know that there are aspects of our game that still need improvement.
“What we are focusing on in this pre-season is just getting the fitness and the power of the players up to standard and getting the new players we brought in on the same page in terms of how we want to play. Then, also, the conditions we are anticipating when we are going to play in our first three games of the Currie Cup here at home. We are playing three of our first four games in Wellington. In the middle of winter, we expect it to be wet and muddy.
“So, we are changing up our game plans because it is going to be very important to get wins in those types of weather conditions.”
Sanlam Boland Cavaliers’ New Signings:
FORWARDS: Laurence Victor (prop), Llewellyn Classen (hooker), Sibusiso Sangweni (looseforward)
BACKS: Juan Mostert (flyhalf), Louis Schreuder (scrumhalf), David Brits (utility back), Donovan Don (utility back)