'Patriot a good team' claims Visser

Steinhoff Patriot coach Johan Visser was understandably disappointed with his team’s 15-42 loss to Steinhoff Maroela in their 2010 Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships opener on Monday – but more, so, because his players let themselves down.

The Men from TUT went down by two tries to five and Visser told varsitycup.co.za: “We are a good team – despite what the scoreline suggests.

“We put a lot of pressure on them intially, but just couldn’t convert it into points, and they scored, basically, against the run of play and then again after half-time and suddenly my guys just lost interest.

“As I said, I believe in this team… and I know the guys can do better – that’s what disappointed me the most.”

Patriot have a bye this coming Monday and they will get their campaign underway again the following Monday (March 8) when they travel to the UJ Stadium, in Johannesburg, to take on Bastion.

Visser admitted: “The tough thing about this competition is that you don’t know much about your opponents – all of whom you play against just once.

“But, that said, we have to worry about our performance and the rest will hopefully take care of itself.”

Meanwhile, Visser has one injury concern after the Maroela game; with tighthead prop Simon Cocks (AC Joint) taking a knock on Monday.

The Patriot coach, however, is hopeful that the extra week off will be enough to get him back onto the park for the Bastion fixture.