Drotské: 'It's a new game at lock'
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:07
Free State Cheetahs locks Barend Pieterse en David de Villiers will have the task of reclaiming order for their team in the line-outs in this weekends Currie Cup clash against the Sharks.
The Cheetahs have been struggling with their line-outs in the last few weeks, although their task has been made tougher by the wet and rainy conditions that have prevailed in matches against the Blue Bulls and Western Province.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské was forced to change his second row, and has opted for De Villiers over the more physical style of Flip van der Merwe for the Sharks clash, according to Volksblad.
De Villiers will have a huge job on his hands to outfox the Sharks line-out jumpers, which includes their captain and Springbok Johann Muller.
"Our line-outs were not good [in the last few matches] and we conceded two tries against the Bulls from lost line-outs," said coach Drotské.
"I think all the [Currie Cup] teams are currently struggling in the line-outs. But we want to fix it, because we feel it was one of our strong points earlier.
"I really believe that if the current rules [experimental law variations] continue, we'll see teams picking two No.5 locks for the starting team in future," Drotské continued.
The current rules of the Currie Cup mean that teams can have any number of players in the line-outs, and teams have been very successful in disrupting opponents' line-outs.
On top of their problems at lock, the Cheetahs also have to make do this weekend with a new hooker in the side, after Adriaan Strauss received his call-up to the Springbok side for Tri-Nations duty in Australia this weekend.
"To bring in Jaco [Du Toit] is probably a risk, because we never gave him any chance to play in matches.
"But we cannot select Adriaan [Strauss], because he's with the Springboks, so it's something we have to accommodate.
"He [Du Toit] has done well in practice this week, and [replacement hooker] Richardt Strauss is also available again after his injury," said the coach.
