DHL Stormers announce strong side to take on the Lions in their Neo Africa Tri-series match

The game is the first of three Newlands based games in the annual pre-season tournament with the Lions taking on the Sharks on Tuesday 1 February (19h00) and the DHL Stormers taking on the Sharks on Saturday 5 February at 17h00.

Tickets for the Neo Africa Tri-Series are available at all Computicket and Shoprite/Checkers outlets as well as on the Computicket website (www.computicket.com) and from the Newlands Box Office at the following prices:

Please note that season tickets are not valid for the above friendlies.

The team is as follows:

15. Conrad Jantjes
14. Gio Aplon
13. Juan De Jongh
12. Jean De Villiers
11. Bryan Habana
10. Gary Van Aswegen
9. Ricky Januarie
8. Duane Vermuelen
7. Rynhardt Elstadt
6. Schalk Burger (C)
5. Andries Bekker
4. De Kock Steenkamp
3. Brok Harris
2. Tiaan Liebenberg
1. CJ van Der Linde

Reserves:

16. Siyabonga Ntubeni
17. Steven Kitshoff
18. Frans Malherbe
19. Wimpie Van Der Walt
20. Quinn Roux
21. Pieter Louw
22. Siya Kolisi
23. Louis Schreuder
24. Elgar Watts
25. Johann Sadie
26. Tim Whitehead
27. JJ Engelbrecht
28. Danie Poolman

History of the Neo Africa Tri-Series

The Neo Africa Tri-Series was started in 2010 as a pre-season tournament for the Vodacom Super Rugby tournament. The series is hosted at the famous Newlands Rugby Stadium and saw the host Stormers take on the Sharks and the Western Force from Australia over a week of intense rugby.

The inaugural match of the Neo Africa Tri-Series saw the Stormers face the Force from Australia. The game also saw the debut of two Springbok greats in Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie who both made their debuts for the franchise. In what proved to be a one sided affair with the home team running our 54-12 winners. Joe Pietersen ended the game with an impressive 24 points thanks to two tries, four conversations and 2 penalties.

The second match saw the Force taking on the Sharks. In what was a complete reversal of form from their first outing in the Neo Africa Tri-Series, the Australians put in an inspired display to leave their opponents scoreless in a 26-0 victory. The Force put in a all-round team performance to see them score tries through Sam Wykes, Ryan Cross, Cameron Shepherd and James O’Connor.

In the final fixture of the 2010 Neo Africa Tri-Series, local rivals the Stormers and the Sharks faced off in a local derby. True to the form of the tournament, the Stormers ran out comfortable 29-14 winners in front of the Newlands faithful. Once again full back Joe Pietersen put in an impressive stint to end the game with 14 points.

Facts and Figures

2010 Neo Africa Tri-Series top performers

Top try scorers

• 2: Tiaan Liebenberg, Joe Pietersen
• 1: Andries Bekker, Peter Grant, Bryan Habana, JJ Engelbrecht, Joelin Rapana, Mark Swanepoel, Sam Wykes, Ryan Cross, Cameron Shephard, Jame O’Connor, Schalk Burger, Sireli Naqelevuki, Luzuko Vulindlu

Top points scorers

• 38:Joe Pietersen (2 tries, 6 penalties, 5 conversions)
• 10: Peter Grant (1 try, 1 penalty, 1 conversion), Tiaan Liebenberg (2 tries)
• 9: James O’Connor (1 try, 2 conversions)
• 6: Rory Kockott (2 penalties)
• 5: Andries Bekker, Bryan Habana, JJ Engelbrecht, Joelin Rapana, Mark Swanepoel, Sam Wykes, Ryan Cross, Cameron Shephard, Schalk Burger, Sireli Naqelevuki, Luzuko Vulindlu (all 1 try)
• 4: Andre Pretorious (2 conversions)
• 3: Steve Meyer (1 penalty)

About Neo Africa – the principle sponsors of the Neo Africa Tri-Series

Neo Africa as a group lives by the philosophy and value of empowering nations through recruiting, developing and positively impacting historically disadvantaged individuals, not just in South Africa but all over the continent.

As a truly African organisation, we have a proven track record for developing and implementing large-scale operations and projects for both the Public and Private sectors.

The company is 100 percent black owned and managed and employs over 300 people. We have performed projects in Southern Africa and are currently expanding our footprint into the rest of the continent.

Neo Africa was developed as a platform for like-minded people with a flair for innovative business solutions. We have, through our various initiatives and projects, earned credibility as a Group that can deliver large-scale turnkey solutions that are often groundbreaking.

Neo Africa focuses on the following unique segments and sectors:

IT and Consulting
• Business process re-engineering
• Supply chain management
• Information technology and communications
• Consulting – private and public sectors
• Safety and Security
• Aviation and transport
• Environmental management
• Fuels and energy

Lifestyle
• Concierge services
• Event management
• Travel, including hotel and leisure
• Exclusive car hire and chauffer services
• Publishing

In each of these sectors we have specialist expertise generally reserved for a few niche players and we are often able to serve as thought leaders, helping to transform the sectors we enter.

Neo Africa epitomises the change we are striving to achieve, not just for the continent, but globally.

Neo Africa’s sponsorship of the Tri-Series tournament is the Group’s first foray into Rugby. Neo Africa was a National Supporter of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South AfricaTM and a sponsor of the BMW Motorsport winning team in the Wesbank Super Series.

FNB – Official Partner of the Neo Africa Tri-Series

As proud supporters of the Western Cape and being proudly South African, FNB has chosen to partner the Neo Africa Tri-Series as FNB believes in investing in business, people and sport. The Neo Africa Tri-Series is a great start to the 2011 Rugby season and FNB is excited to be part of it.

FNB is the proud bankers of Western Province Rugby Pty Ltd. We invest in rugby development through our FNB Varsity Cup and FNB Classic Clashes. The FNB Classic Clashes concept was developed around traditional schoolboy rugby ‘brawls’, and FNB looked to steer their sponsorship focus to enhance these games. The FNB Classic Clashes also allowed FNB the opportunity to develop relationships with each school, its teaching staff, the parents and the communities around the school. The FNB Classic Clashes not only targets the rugby game, but allow the different areas of each school to promote themselves and raise funds for particular projects, while providing a platform to attract spectators to a feast of rugby.

FNB decided early on to focus on taking schoolboy rugby that much further by developing young talent for the platform of student rugby. The FNB Varsity Cup is an inter-university rugby competition that sees eight of the country’s top universities go head-to-head to take home the title. The development of the youth is an important aspect of helping achieve outstanding rugby in South Africa of which FNB is fully committed.

This is the year to be with FNB. The bank with the lowest bank charges. So join in supporting Western Province rugby!

About Treble Group and Club Newlands – The Event Organisers of the Neo Africa Tri-Series

The Treble Group is a global sports marketing agency offering innovative marketing solutions in the fields of sport and entertainment. Treble has a strong track record in working with both rights holders and sponsors to structure, market and activate their commercial programmes, sponsorship properties and media rights. Unique is Treble’s ability to conceptualize and stage world-class events and sponsorship leveraging platforms combined with the development and management of supporter relationship programs. This database marketing initiative maximizes the commercial returns for the sponsor / rights holder.

The Treble Group partners WP Rugby in managing Club Newlands, the official Supporters Club of the DHL WP and Stormers teams. Club Newlands has brought the family of WP and Stormers fans together through regular events, weekly electronic communication and quarterly newsletters. They are constantly finding innovative ways to bring the supporters closer to their teams both at home and when the team travels to other parts of SA.

Treble Group is also the event managers of the Neo Africa Tri-Series and runs the event in its entirety from logistics to promotion.