Disciplined Leopards to hit the road
Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:31
Leopards coach Chaka Willemse, still seething over an extraordinary 15-minute period that produced an unbelievable 13 penalties, is convinced his team's discipline won't be a problem when they meet the SWD Eagles in the decisive second leg of the Currie Cup promotion-relegation series in George on Friday.
In the first match between the Leopards and Eagles in Potchefstroom last week, won 47-42 by the Leopards, the SWD outfit scored three of their five tries in the last eight minutes.
That extraordinary comeback not only ensured the Eagles took two valuable points away from Potchefstroom, by they have heaped pressure on a Leopards team desperate to remain in the top flight.
And having to travel to George this week certainly won't make life any easier.
However, Willemse feels his men are equipped to get the win on the road to stay in the Premier Division.
"Last year [when we played] in the bottom six [First Division] and this year in the Vodacom Cup competition, we had a very good away record," Willemse told rugby365.
"We often tend to play better on the road than at home, and it has been a headache for me.
"I am very happy about going on the road and we have overcome that hurdle, we know exactly what is required and what to do," he said about the road trip.
But dealing with an alarming penalty count is a much taller order than just playing away from home.
"Them coming back [in the latter stages] was just a result of 13 penalties in 15 minutes against us, something that is unheard of," Willemse told rugby365, adding: "Under normal circumstances that [allowing the opposition to come back] won't happen.
"If you give me 13 penalties in 15 minutes I will play any team off the field.
"There were no other concerns, aside from that extraordinary penalty count in such a short period of time.
"It is one of those anomalies that happened last week and I doubt we will be faced with the same situation.
"We have addressed it and I do have a very disciplined team. For me it was strange that while playing in the top eight [Currie Cup Premier Division], where the best referees are in action, we conceded just six or seven penalties a game.
"Last weekend we played against a bottom six [First Division] team and conceded 19 penalties.
"It is unheard of and that is all that brought them back in the game.
"We will ensure our discipline is spot on, we will control the penalty count and make sure it is below six again."
By Jan de Koning
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