Whiteley: We have to be clinical
Golden Lions captain Warren Whiteley believes his side needs to be clinical in all facets of their game if they are to walk away from Newlands as the 2014 Currie Cup champions.
The Golden Lions will travel to the Cape to face Western Province in a replay of the 1986 final which saw the home side claim a 22-9 victory over the then Transvaal.
"Western Province have proven to be a very dangerous side, especially on attack. They have some exciting players, especially among their back three with Cheslin Kolbe and Seabelo Senatla making an impact with ball in hand.
"We will be focused on our own game, making sure we execute our game plan effectively on the day. We have to be clinical on attack and defence if we hope to pick up the desired result," Whiteley told the MyPlayers website.
The Johannesburg-based side have had a seuccessfull campaign and Whiteley believes it's all due to the collective effort of the players and management team.
"First and foremost, you have to credit coach Ackers [Johan Ackermann] and his team. They have set the necessary structures and the players are thriving because of it.
"We are very happy with the brand of rugby we're playing. Everybody is playing their role on attack and defence, and the results emphasis this. I do think we've been lucky that we haven't lost too many players to injuries, which has allowed a lot of continuity, but don't take anything away from the overall effort," he said.
The Golden Lions finished the round-robin phase of the competition in second place behind Western Province but, acccording to the competition statistics, have been the most effective team, scoring the most points (162) and tries (44) while boasting the best defence (conceding 206 points and 21 tries).
While the Golden Lions will be focused on their Currie Cup final in Cape Town, Whiteley expressed his excitement ahead of the team's 2015 Super Rugby campaign.
"We're not the finished product yet. As a team, we want to be even better going into Super Rugby. We gained a lot of confidence after recording our most successful Super Rugby campign this season but the reality is that we went through a disappointing slump midway through the tournament.
"We did very well to finish strongly by winning our three three games against the Bulls [32-21], Melbourne Rebels [34-17] and Cheetahs [60-25]. If we can be more consistent, we could surprise many people next year," he added.
Source: MyPlayers
