Recently retired Springboks Breyton Paulse and Bobby Skinstad will turn back the hands of time in a 15-a-side exhibition match against Grey Old Boys at the third annual Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) Sevens next month.
Paulse (Stormers) and Skinstad’s (Sharks) names both appear on the provisional list of players released by the SA Rugby Legends’ management yesterday.
The Legends will tackle Grey Old Boys on the second day (December 13) of the three-day tournament, which takes place at Pearson High School in Port Elizabeth.
Other top former Springboks in the group include players like Robbie Kempson (Stormers), Deon Kayser (Sharks), Tinus Linee (Stormers), Braam van Straaten (Stormers), Anton Leonard (Bulls), Dave von Hoesslin (Sharks) and Ricardo Loubscher (Sharks).
The captain for this must-win match is yet to be appointed, but former Scot and Springbok hooker, John Allen, will take on the coaching duties.
Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens’ director of rugby, Jacques Steyn, says the Old Boys have yet to name their squad, but that the public can expect to see numerous former provincial players among their ranks.
The Legends recently took top honours at the Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is regarded as the best in the world among their peers. According to Steyn, the Legends have never lost a game.
The closest they came was when these same two teams clashed in Port Elizabeth two seasons ago. Then, just like in the 1995 World Cup, Joel Stransky’s boot saved the day for the Legends in the last minutes of play.
“The match between the Legends and the Old Boys will be the highlight of the exhibition matches,” says Steyn. In the other old boys matches, Framesby will play Andrew Rabie and Pearson will meet Alexander Road.
To book tickets, visit www.computicket.co.za. For more information, phone Laurence Finn on 084 507 3175 or visit www.nmbs.co.za.
The provisional Legends squad: Dan Mafuko, Andile Nyembezi, Evert Ferreira, Wessel Lightfoot, Robbie Kempson, Steyn Swart, Barry Pinnock, Johann Kapp, Adri Geldenhuys, Mark Wood, Bob Skinstad, Thobile Mtya, Anton Leonard, Bennie Jacobs, David von Hoesslin, Neil Cole, Quintin Daniels, Breyton Paulse, Marc Watson, AC Prinsloo, Deon Kayser, Tinus Linee, FA Meiring, Brett Hennessy, Brian Matthews, Wayne Weyer, Monde Tyaliti, Chivago Breda, Henry Pedro, Andries Fourie, Riaan Swartz, Ricardo Loubscher, Trevor Halstead
Issued by:
Full Stop Communications
Coetzee Gouws
082 575 7991
041 368 4992
coetzee@fullstopcom.com
www.fullstopcom.com
Names:
Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens