Cheetahs to make more than one point
The Free State Cheetahs are determined to land a knock-out blow of note when they travel to Port Elizabeth on Friday to take on the Eastern Province Kings.
Taking a 39-point advantage into the second round of their promotion-relegation series, the Cheetahs require a solitary bonus point to ensure they will play Currie Cup rugby next year and reduce the new Super Rugby franchise to another season of First Division (second tier) competition on the domestic stage.
Despite suffering more injuries and not having been extended during their 53-14 win in Bloemfontein last week, the Cheetahs have made it clear that they will not hold back in the return fixture.
Cheetahs assistant coach Hawies Fourie said the main objective is obviously to ensure that they qualify to play in the Currie Cup competition in 2013.
However, they have other goals, which include making sure they end a bitterly disappointing season on a high note.
"We are certainly not going there [to PE] just to collect one point, we want to win," Fourie told this website, when asked to outline their goals for a game most pundits feel they should win at a cruise.
"We want to win properly and play decent rugby to end the season on a high note."
The Cheetahs feel there is plenty at stake for them.
"We know that if we are just slightly under par we can lose to the Kings and before you know it, we could be battling not to lose by a big margin.
"We certainly won't underestimate them.
"With players like Darron Nell and Siyabonga Mangweni back, they will be far more dangerous [than last week in Bloemfontein]."
He admitted that the 39-point buffer might result in some players, maybe subconsciously, falling into the complacency trap.
"We are aware that it is a possibility and we have spoken to the players, at length, that it is simply not good enough to go down there [to PE] and think we only require one point.
"We want to win and play good rugby," Fourie added.
By Jan de Koning
