Hawies Fourie welcomes rain in Parma
SPOTLIGHT: Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie has his sights set on the quarterfinal of the Challenge Cup and it all starts for his team in Parma against Zebre at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranch on Saturday.
Speaking ahead of their departure this week, Fourie did not mince his words.
“Last year we reached the final 16 of the competition and that will be the bare minimum that we will be happy with. It will most probably be much tougher this year,” Fourie said.
“From my side I would ideally like to see us in the quarterfinals but one will have to work week by week, game by game.”
The conditions in Parma are not foreign to the Cheetahs players. They have been there and done that.
“It helps a lot to have an idea about the conditions. We stayed in Parma quite a bit last year, we were based there as our home ground. So we are used to the hotel, the field, the training facilities and the weather.
“We know what to expect. I’ve shown the weather predictions for Friday and Saturday to the squad this morning so they know what awaits us over there. It looks like it is going to rain on Friday and Saturday morning,” the coach said.
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Fourie made an interesting comment about the rain, saying he would prefer rain as it suits his teams’ make-up better.
“We tried to prep for the wet conditions but it’s not always easy when it is 35 degrees over here. I think mentally we know what to expect and how we want to play.
“I actually think it would us best if it rains. We have a good pack of forwards, a good kicking game while our defence is good. Those are the things that win games and it is the three aspects of our game that have become out strong points over the last season or two.
Captain Victor Sekekete agreed that it helps to know the conditions and what to expect.
“Having players who have played there before, it helps to know what to expect. I think kicking off our campaign like that is beneficial to us.
“We’ve seen that their forward pack also like to maul and scrum a lot,” Sekekete said.
Fourie said not having enough pre-season games to prepare will most probably affect the side more than he would like.
“We did have very little game time to prepare. The other teams have all had eight games in the United Rugby Championship while played against the Griffons and Lions,” the coach said.
“That is the big difference but on the other hand we are fresh and well rested. I doubt that will hinder us. If our attitude is right, we will perform well on Saturday.”
