NMMU ready for breakdown battle
The NMMU Madibas will make the difficult trip to Bloemfontein to take on the University of the Free State (Shimlas) on Monday, knowing that they have a tough ask in countering the physical Free Staters – especially at the breakdown.
Despite suffering a 20-68 mauling at the hands of a rampant Maties outfit in Round One of the 2010 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International, NMMU can be proud of their spirited effort against the defending champions last Monday.
After half an hour of that game, the Madibaz trailed their far more fancied opponents by a single point, and head coach Kolie Brandt will be hoping that his young charges can reproduce the form that made them competitive with the tournament favourites – who are a “bloody good side”, according to ‘Oom’ Kolie.
“We kept our shape quite nicely for 32 minutes,” Brandt told varsitycup.co.za. “There are a lot of good things we can take out of the game and build on moving forward.”
One of the most pleasing aspects for Brandt was his inexperienced squad’s willingness to use the ball even when they were comprehensively outclassed.
“Whenever we got ball, we were prepared to play,” Brandt said.
“We never gave up, right until the end we wanted to score tries and even gave up the chance to kick penalties – which might have made the score more respectable, but wouldn’t have taught us much.”
After a week of analysis, Brandt knows where he team needs to improve if they are to make a successful trip to central South Africa and the home of the Shimlas, who were unlucky not to win their first match of the competition – ending in a 30-30 draw after a thrilling comeback by the University of Cape Town’s Ikey Tigers.
“We have had a look at the video of the Ikeys game and it was interesting as they [the Shimlas] play a very similar pattern to that of the Maties,” said the NMMU coach.
“We have worked out a few things to counter them – particularly at the contact points,” he continued. “We need to sharpen up at the breakdown and counter their aggression.”
Brandt’s sentiments were echoed by Madibas skipper Lusu Booi (pictured), who had a strong game against the Maties under enormous pressure and managed to provide good service to his equally impressive halfback partner Willem Laubscher.
“The Shimlas really contest for the ball on the ground,” said Booi, who is one of only four NMMU players with previous Varsity Cup experience.
“They compete aggressively at the contact points and there has been a real push this week to get our forwards ready to counter this.”
Along with the breakdown, the captain and coach both mentioned the set-pieces as an area where they needed to improve for their Round Two clash. Their scrum struggled against the powerhouse Stellenbosch pack last Monday, but the lineout fared admirably in terribly windy conditions.
Atrocious conditions have been a constant battle for Booi and his men. This week the Madibas trade a windy and dry Port Elizabeth for the Free State, which has been rocked by torrential downpours over the last few weeks.
It will be not be easy to adapt for NMMU, but Brandt is approaching the challenge in typically jovial fashion.
“There will be totally different conditions up there – we are going froma drought to a mudbath,” Brandt chuckled.
“And because of the water restrictions here, I couldn’t even wet the field to prepare properly. I might just have to keep a bucket of water with me and wet the ball before we use it at our final practice!”
By Tim Human
