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- Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie has told his players not to let excitement get the better of them in their first Super Rugby Unlocked game against the Pumas.
- He believes actively participating in a competition helps everyone forget the distraction and disappointment of PRO14’s firing.
- Captain Ruan Pienaar enjoys the opportunity to benchmark his troops against the Super Rugby franchises, even if it will be process driven.
While tensions continue to simmer off the field over the PRO Rugby Cheetahs’ lack of ceremony, the team itself is focused on channeling any frustration in a positive way ahead of its first Super Rugby Unlocked game against the Pumas at home. Saturday.
Hawies Fourie, the head coach of the central franchise, naturally wants his positions to maintain high standards when they set out to challenge for the two trophies that will be offered, but he cautioned that playing to prove what is essentially a political point won’t help. its cause.
“It’s not going to work for us if we focus on the negative things that happened in preparation for the game,” he said Thursday.
“We are not here to prove anything other than playing well in both competitions, particularly in defending our Currie Cup title. We should just focus on that.”
Given the profound emotional impact the SA Rugby general council decision has had on players, coaches and administrators, even a broader section of the local rugby community, simply returning to the field is just the tonic to quell disappointment.
“In fact, we are very lucky to be starting a competition now that we can give our full attention to,” Fourie said.
“It becomes quite a difficult situation when you are not really playing. There are a lot of other things on your mind and you can easily get distracted. Everyone is a little more focused now. We just want to play the best we can and take care of each other.”
For a more vociferous critic like Ruan Pienaar, it might be a bit more difficult to completely separate the excitement of mercilessly getting on with work, but his goal is to be on high alert nonetheless.
“Yes, it is a situation with conflicting emotions. The decision has been made, I do not think it will change the minds of the important people when we win the Super Rugby Unlocked or the Currie Cup,” the Cheetahs captain pointed out pragmatically.
“What I have said to the guys is that we have a competition to play in now and we need to stay strong as a group. I am confident that we will achieve that goal.
“Obviously it will be a nice feeling if we give some bigger dogs a little scare, but it’s not a priority.”
From a more neutral rugby perspective, the question of how the Cheetahs fare compared to the Super Rugby franchises that have replaced them at PRO Rugby will indeed be an interesting examination.
“We definitely talked about it,” Pienaar said.
“But he will have to be driven by the process, to take it game by game. The Pumas are a difficult team to face. We looked again at the images from last year and we only won narrowly.
“I think we have to get this game out of the way first, make sure we get it right and start from there.”
Teams:
Cheetahs
15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Malcolm Jaer, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Ruan Pienaar (captain), 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Walt Steenkamp, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Reinach Venter, 1 Charles Marais
Substitutes: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Erich de Jager, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Chris Massyn, 21 Aidon Davis, 22 Tian Meyer, 23 William Small-Smith
Cougars
15 Devon Williams, 14 Luther Obi, 13 Wayne van der Bank, 12 Ryan Nell (captain), 11 Neil Maritz, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Kwanda Dimaza, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Cameron Lindsay, 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Ruan Kramer, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Morgan Naudé.
Substitutes: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Liam Hendricks, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Jeandré Rudolph, 21 Dian Badenhorst, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Ruwellyn Isbell
