Fleck lauds young backline
Western Province assistant coach Robbie Fleck has lauded the efforts of his young backline whose vast improvement has proved vital in their 2014 Currie Cup campaign.
Under the guidance of Fleck and captain Juan de Jongh, the likes of Cheslin Kolbe, Seabelo Senatla, Michael van der Spuy, Kobus van Wyk and Pat Howard have become regular features for the Cape side.
"We have grown as a group and the combinations have started to work nicely. We are very pleased with how far we have come with our exciting youngsters – who are starting to play with a lot of self-belief. It's been a great pleasure working with them.
"De Jongh has had a massive impact on the progress in the defensive roles and general play. They have an eye for a gap and have gelled quite nicely together," he said.
WP have managed to score 40 tries this season while conceding 23 on their way to topping the table after the round-robin fixtures, 25 were scored have come from the backline.
"It's a team effort in the try scoring sense, we have scored nice tries throughout the season and have had to work incredibly hard for some of them but overall it's pleasing to see we have gotten certain aspects right in our game, that we struggled with before," he added.
Ahead of the semifinal encounter, the Blue Bulls have succumbed twice to WP in the regular season, however, they have turned their season around and will be determined to get the better of the Cape side in the traditional North versus South derby.
The Bulls will be full of confidence following their 46-12 thrashing of Griquas which not only saw Handre Pollard come off the bench to score a try but also the resurgence of Bjorn Basson who demonstrated his aerial prowess and bagged a hat-trick of tries.
"Pollard is quality player who has come through the Bulls' ranks and has proving himself on the international stage. It's clear to see his quality and he has a lot of self-belief which rubs off on the rest of the team.
"Basson is probably the best exponent in the air and the Bulls used that to good effect against Griquas. Besides that threat, when he had a bit of space, he operated really effectively," he added.
Despite these threats and that of leading points scorer, Jacques-Louis Potgieter (112 points), Fleck is confident his young backline have the confidence and ability to withstand anything the Bulls throw at them.
"When it comes to semifinals, we need to keep encouraging the players to play and look for attacking opportunities. It's nice to have everyone back [from injury and national duty] and we know they have the ability to get the better of them," he stated.
By Tauriq Ebrahim
@Tagels03
