Rassie primed for third Cheetah battle
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:10
Western Province senior coach Rassie Erasmus feels that the personal jousting and mind games between WP and the Free State Cheetahs is mostly a thing of the past.
Province meet the Cheetahs in their Round Three Currie Cup fixture at Newlands on Saturday, with the unbeaten Cheetahs looking to make it three wins on the trot in their quest to win the Currie Cup for a record fourth year in a row.
There has been much emotion in recent encounters between the two franchises, largely because of the ties that exist between senior coach Erasmus and the Cheetahs.
Erasmus had a lengthy playing and coaching career with the Cheetahs before moving on to take over at the helm of the Stormers.
The WP Currie Cup side is coached by Allister Coetzee, but Erasmus still has a large hand behind the scenes as the senior coach.
Yet Erasmus feels that current Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has long since restructured the Bloemfontein outfit, and has brought his own ideas into practice at the Cheetahs.
"I feel that quite a lot of water has gone under the bridge with respect to structures," Erasmus told rugby365.com.
"I reckon very little of the things that I put into place there are still in use. Naka will be using all his own ideas.
"[Fitness and conditioning coach] Jacques [Nienaber] might still have a little information, but I don't think that would mean much at this stage," said Erasmus.
The Cheetahs have been minimally affected by Springbok call-ups, with Juan Smith and CJ van der Linde the only Cheetahs players on tour in New Zealand.
That may leave the perception that Province will be the weaker team come Saturday, having lost three players to the Springboks. But Erasmus does not feel that this is the case at all, especially with Bok players like new Province captain Gcobani Bobo, Tonderai Chavhanga and Schalk Brits at their disposal.
"I don't think anyone will look at the score and think, 'wow, Province are missing three Springboks'," quipped Erasmus.
"We have to simply go with this team, as it's the best one we currently have available. JD [Moller] will return soon, Sireli [Naqelevuki] will return soon, so we will be sending our best team out on Saturday.
"We have to make it work. It's the same with injuries for all the teams. The Cheetahs had to make do without Meyer Bosman in their first round match.
"We have to take them on with the team we have at our disposal. We're playing at Newlands, and it should be a very tough game. We'll be in with a very good chance.
"I'm not saying we're the favourites for the match, but we'll have a good team," he assured.
Erasmus said he felt that both teams knew each other pretty well at this stage, having played each other three times in just short of a year since Erasmus left the Cheetahs for the Cape franchise.
He stated that the Cheetahs were well respected, and that his team were well aware of the threat that they posed in any weather conditions.
"I think it's the third time we're playing them [Cheetahs] since I've left there. The first one was the Currie Cup game, when Gary [Gold] beat them last year. And then there was the Super 14 game.
"I'm sure our players know how committed the Cheetahs are, how thorough they are, and their attention to detail. But they know us as well as we know them. They have played us in the Super 14 and Currie Cup.
"They are unbeaten, and they're the Currie Cup champs. So it's going to be a nice challenge for us."
By Phil Coetzer
