AUDIO: Fourie reflects on Currie Cup campaign
LISTEN as Boland Cavaliers head coach reflects on his side’s Currie Cup campaign following their 19-67 semifinal loss to the Lions at Ellis Park.
The Cavaliers surprised friend and foe in their return to the oldest domestic competition in the world, having an unbeaten run at home against the Cheetahs, Bulls and Lions at the Boland Stadium.
Fourie’s side also claimed a vital win on the road against the Pumas and narrowly lost to the Sharks away as well.
It is a season that can be marked as a successful one, considering that their last participation in the competition came in 2016 and that three of their players still had full-time jobs to juggle with their professional rugby career.
The Cavaliers’ season came to an end at Ellis Park, but Fourie is thankful for the experience himself and the side had and vowed to learn from it and hopefully be a better outfit next season.
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“I felt that we weren’t used to playing at this intensity before.
“When I started [coaching Boland] last year, we played in the SA Cup and the First Division, where we had games against the Cheetahs, Pumas, Griquas and the Griffons, which were tight.
“Then we had some easier games against teams such as Border and Leopards.
“So we had two or three tough and the same amount of easier games, so you could pace yourself.
“The Currie Cup was something different with seven games in a row, which were at a higher level and higher intensity against quality opposition, and it got more difficult as the season came to a close.
“We played Western Province last weekend with their United Rugby Championship players and a much-improved Lions team than the one we played against in Wellington.
“It’s a good experience for us. It’s good for us to play at this level and taste it and to know what it takes.
“You can then have an honest look at yourself and see which areas require improvement as coaches and players.
“It’s not nice to lose like this with that sort of score margin, but if you look at the competition in perspective, I will always say ‘thank you, we will play again and want to compete at this level and improve to show we can compete against teams like this’.”
