Cheetahs continue building process
It is no secret that the Cheetahs are in a rebuilding phase and lack the necessary experience to remain consistent throughout an encounter. However, Smith believes it will take time for his players to reach the level he wants.
"It [the loss to the Rebels] is not really a step backwards as we are still undergoing a building phase. Quite a few things worked for us in the victory over the Sunwolves and we proved that we can play an expansive game, which is the direction we are headed.
"I think there was a lot of positives things in the Rebels game but maybe some guys were a little big eyed, being their first tour. We panicked in the final 20 minutes because we felt that we could win the match, which led to us forcing the transfers and play out of our system.
"But that experience will come with time, even though we understand that everyone is impatient with wanting positive results," Smith said.
That panic led to numerous handling errors throughout the encounter, something Smith believes will resolve itself when the experience grows.
"We had 13 scrums against us, which shows the number of handling errors we are committing but that is expected when you try open the game up. We have some 'growing pains' and that will go away with time.
"We are aiming to play more with the ball in hand but we have a lot of young guys who are not used to the pressure, so we will be working quite hard on trying to eliminate those errors. It took a team like New Zealand a number of years to build themselves into the side they are now. So the positive signs are there," he added.
Hilton Lobberts is the only casualty from the loss to Rebels as he suffered a broken bone in his shoulder. His place in the squad will be taken by Willie Britz.
