Bobo: 'Griquas was our wake-up call'
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:54
Western Province skipper Gcobani Bobo has said that he and his team-mates will not be caught sleeping again when they face the Falcons in the Currie Cup this Friday in Brakpan.
Province suffered a shock 20-21 loss to Griquas in Kimberley last Saturday in a match where the home side dominated their illustrious Capetonian opponents in the physical stakes for most of the match.
That loss has dropped WP down to fourth on the Currie Cup log standings, and more importantly, the result will also give the Falcons great confidence and belief that the Newlands outfit is currently ripe for the plucking on their travels.
Captain Bobo said that his team would have to get back to their sharpest form ahead of Friday's clash at Bosman Stadium to avoid an unthinkable repeat result.
But Bobo also felt that the Griquas clash served to fire up the WP players.
"It's one of those things, it's individuals," Bobo told reporters at a media conference at WP's new High Performance Centre in Bellville.
"It's got to do with the make-up of the team, and the way we set out our front.
"I think it's the first game this season where I've felt that guys weren't actually mentally up for it when things got a bit tough in Kimberley, and our guys took a step back.
"This week's been good though. [The Griquas game] was one of those games that sometimes wakes up the beast in a person, when someone rubs it in your face.
"I think that's what the Griquas did to us," said Bobo.
Coach Allister Coetzee echoed Bobo's statement, but warned that the so-called 'smaller' unions such as Griquas, Falcons and Boland, should under no circumstances be underestimated.
"Let's forget about [calling them] the smaller unions in this competition," said Coetzee.
"The Falcons will have a lot of confidence knowing that they got close against the Sharks.
"WP lost to Griquas, so they [Falcons] will be very confident, and will back themselves at home again.
"Like Gcobani said, it's a wake-up call for us."
Coetzee hinted that his team would be far more alert to an ambush this week round, considering the fact that unions such as the Falcons have improved their match preparations greatly in recent times, especially in terms of interpreting technical information and tactics.
"The smaller unions are right up there technically in terms of analysing a position, where maybe they weren't in the past.
"They know exactly who to target. Their analysis is much better than it used to be in the past.
"Those players tend to come back and come back for 80 minutes, and that is the challenge for us - to be as accurate as possible for eighty minutes," the coach said.
Province have already addressed one of the problems of the loss in Kimberley with the arrival of scrumhalf Dewald Duvenhage from Boland.
The player has been drafted straight into the starting line-up ahead of Alistair Siegelaar, who has been the incumbent No.9 thus far in the WP Currie Cup line-up.
"We're fortunate to have a player of the calibre of Dewald Duvenhage. He's been with us since the Super 14," explained Coetzee.
"At one stage in the Super 14 when Bolla Conradie injured his calf muscle, we had Dewald on stand-by, so he almost cut in ahead of Conrad Hoffman.
"At this point Conrad is still injured, and one week away [from a return]. We're very happy to have Dewald here, and welcome him back into the fold."
Coetzee further explained his reasoning for sending Duvenhage into battle at such short notice.
He told reporters that Duvenhage brought a type of game to the fold that was ideally suited to the expected conditions on the Highveld, and that the player was already familiar with the team's game patterns.
"The first three games we played in wet weather conditions," said Coetzee. "The pace of the game in those condition are a bit slower than normal.
"Now when you get to the Highveld and the harder fields, one can see that it's a much quicker game. It's a game where your No.9 needs to get to the rucks much quicker and get the ball out much quicker.
"So in terms of our first three games, that's something that I learned.
"Dewald is an extension of the Stormers - there's nothing that he still needs to learn about our playing structures. So he can slot in very easily, even though I'm still happy with Alistair [Siegelaar]."
The Falcons will kick-off what promises to be an interesting Currie Cup encounter against Province at 19.10 on Friday.
By Phil Coetzer
