Frans Steyn: 'Our jobs are on the line'
The euphoria of potentially returning to regular international competition has been doused by the cold reality that they might lose their jobs if they don’t qualify for the Currie Cup.
Cheetahs head coach Frans Steyn admitted that ‘jobs are on the line’ in the next two rounds of the SA Cup.
Just days after reports revealed that the Bloemfontein side may well be included in a future version of the United Rugby Championship, should Wales drop one of their four sides, the franchise is sitting in fifth spot in the SA Cup competition.
Only the top four teams qualify to join the URC franchises in the Currie Cup, once South Africa’s premier domestic competition.
The result that truly put the cat among the pigeons came this past weekend, when the lowly Falcons stunned the Cheetahs 43-36.
It highlighted the possibility of the Bloemfontein side not qualifying for the Currie Cup.
Defending Currie Cup champions Griquas top the standings, having all but qualified to defend their title, and with two rounds remaining, they are seven points ahead of the second-placed Pumas.
Third is Heyneke Meyer’s SWD Eagles, surprising all, with the former Springbok coach set on rebuilding the game in George. Boland are fourth and the Cheetahs on the same points.
The first tie-breaker is games won, giving Boland the edge in the dash for a spot at the top table.
To further complicate matters for the Cheetahs is that two-time World Cup-winning Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk recently signed a two-year deal to move to Bloemfontein.
The 34-year-old veteran might return to South Africa from Japan’s Eagles to play in the lowest division in the domestic game in the Republic.
For Frans Steyn and his Cheetahs team, the next two matches – Border in East London this coming weekend and Griquas in Bloemfontein a week later are ‘must-win’ outings.
(WATCH as Cheetahs coach Frans Steyn reveals what the consequences will be if they fail to qualify for the Currie Cup……)
“We need to win these two games,” Steyn said, adding: “We are paying for our families and the people pf Bloemfontein.”
He said, along with backline coach Ruan Pienaar and forwards coach Tiaan Liebenberg, they are looking at ways to get out of the mire the team finds itself in.
“The message is simple: ‘If we don’t win the next two games, none of us will probably have jobs’.
“That is a reality. We have let ourselves down.
“If we don’t qualify for the Currie Cup, there is less money from SARU, and that is why I feel the SA Cup is a massive tournament,” Steyn said.
“We need to be positive and control what we can,” he said, adding: “We will do our best for the next two weeks.
“We have to win the next two weeks. It is as simple as that.
“We have put ourselves in this hole, and we must get ourselves out.
“As coaches, it is our job to fix this, and we will fix it.”
He suggested the SA Cup has now overtaken the Currie Cup in terms of importance for non-URC teams in South Africa.
“If you don’t qualify, you are *******.
“We are in a competition where the assistant referees are ‘not in the game’, and there is no TMO.
“We should control what we can.”
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
