Cheetahs send ominous warning to WP
CURRIE CUP SPOTLIGHT: The Cheetahs will be looking to build on their win against the Sharks when they face Western Province in a crucial Round Six encounter in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
The Cheetahs thumped the Sharks 37-10 at the Free State Stadium in Round Five to keep their play-off hopes alive. The fact that the Cheetahs had three players yellow-carded in the second half made the victory even more impressive.
The bonus-point win saw the Cheetahs close the gap to the fourth-placed Sharks to within two points on the standings.
As it stands, the Bulls top the table with 35 points, leaving Western Province (31), Lions (29), Sharks (28) and Cheetahs (26) fighting for three play-off places with two matches each to play.
If the Cheetahs’ performance was not ominous enough for WP then Hawies Fourie, the Cheetahs head coach, made it more clear with his comments after the match.
“They [WP] have got a number of Springboks in their side but we know that if you have 15 guys all on the same page, that are motivated and believe in each other and the game plan then you can go far,” said Fourie.
“We’re looking forward to the match. For us, the last four matches were all semifinals – if we lose one, we’re out of the competition and that applies to his weekend as well.
“We have to win against WP. We will prepare well and look at what we need to do. The big thing for me is to improve our defence.
“Although we only let in one try and it was an intercept, we gave the Sharks too many chances in the first half and we were lucky to get away with it.
“We allowed them two or three chances where they might have scored a try, so we need to work hard on that and also on our kicking and to come into the line quicker and to make our one-on-one tackles.”
In Saturday’s other matches, the Lions travel to Nelspruit to face the Pumas and the Sharks will host Griquas in Durban.
