Matfield's three-week Cup goal
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:52
One more game: Bok lock Victor Matfield
The Absa Currie Cup play-off buzz has already gripped Pretoria, according to Blue Bulls captain Victor Matfield, who is hoping to extend the current atmosphere to a "three-week adventure".
Speaking to rugby365.com ahead of Saturday's Currie Cup semifinal showdown with the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld, Matfield said the biggest kick was watching the people queuing to buy tickets and seeing them getting exited about the game.
The Bulls have reached their sixth consecutive Currie Cup semifinal since 2002 and have gone on to reach the Final almost every time - the exception being last year when they were knocked out by the Cheetahs in the semifinal.
In 2003 there was no semifinal and the Bulls advanced directly to the Final, meaning they have reached the play-offs every year for the past seven years.
And Matfield was part of that every time, with the exception of last year and 2003, when the World Cup Springboks were withdrawn from the competition.
However, with the Boks taking part in South Africa's premier domestic competition again this year, it has not only added and extra spark to the Currie Cup, it has also given the players a refreshing boost.
Asked if the spark may have gone after so many years of play-off matches - not just at Currie Cup level, but also Super 14 semifinals and a Final, not to forget the victorious 2007 World Cup Final - Matfield said the "buzz" was still there.
"No, you can feel the buzz," he told rugby365.com.
"The people start to get excited, and when you get to Loftus and you see the people queuing to buy tickets, you start to get into that build-up to the big game.
"We are certainly looking forward to it and hopefully we'll be involved in the competition for another three weeks, not just one week," he added.
This year, of course there is a two-week break between the semifinals and the Final, with the first round of play-offs this Saturday and the Final only on Saturday, October 25.
With most of the top stars rested last week - when the 'B-Bulls' scraped to a 22-20 win over the Falcons - Matfield said they will be "fresh" this week.
"There's no injuries, an yes, it was a good call," he said of the decision to give the guys a break from competitive rugby.
And the team that is set to feature in the semifinal is a combination of players that have been together for some time now, so they will have no problem in gelling as a unit.
Even without his long-time lock partner Bakkies Botha having been ruled out for the rest of the season, Matfield feels there is no real disruption.
"It really does make a difference if you come along together [as a team] for some time," he said, adding: "Obviously Bakkies [Botha] is not there, but Bakkies, Danna [fellow Bok forward Danie Rossouw] and I have been playing together now for eight years.
"I know Danie just as well as Bakkies and we really enjoy playing together.
"The Bulls play a certain way, we use our forwards a lot and I don't think we'll move away from that," he said, adding that continuity had always been key to the Bulls' success.
And despite a very long stretch of uninterrupted rugby - which includes a six-month stint with French Second Division (now promoted to the Top 14) club Toulon and a full international season - Matfield feels he is up for another few games of fierce Currie Cup rugby.
"Yes, I am happy with my game, especially the last few weeks it has been great," he concluded.
By Jan de Koning
