AUDIO: Stonehouse calculates play-off chances
LISTEN as Pumas head coach Jimmy Stonehouse speaks about his side’s chances of making the Currie Cup play-offs after their 39-13 win over Western Province in Cape Town.
The win against Western Province was crucial for Stonehouse’s side as it kept them in contention to reach the semifinal stage of the domestic competition, moving them just one point shy of the fourth-placed Cheetahs.
Stonehouse highlighted the importance of the victory and laid out the permutations for his side, who will need to get the maximum amount of log points this coming weekend against an improving Sharks side.
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“We believed the whole season that we’ve got a good team and that we’re playing fairly well, and then suddenly it changed.
“We need to gun for another semifinal. When you get to that stage of the competition, anything can happen.
“We’ll firstly enjoy tonight [Saturday] before we arrive back in Mbombela on Monday.
“The Cheetahs are wounded, and they’re playing the Bulls, who will possibly field their United Rugby Championship team.
“I don’t know what will happen. Sometimes you select those players and then they don’t want to play in the Currie Cup.
“But we just need to get the four or five [log] points. We are currently on 20 points, and the Cheetahs are on 21, which means if they get four log points, we’ll need to get five.
“Their points difference at the moment is bigger than ours, I’m not entirely sure. There are still many things that need to happen.
“Boland still needs to face Western Province, and they might also change their team to prepare for the URC, but I don’t want to predict those things. I just hope it goes our way.”
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