Coach Joshua urges Eagles to shift into another gear in q-finals
SANDAKAN: Borneo Eagles coach Joshua Van Lieshout wants his men to get off the blocks quickly in the quarter-finals against Thailand in the Borneo 7’s at the Eagles Rugby Club Stadium today.
The Eagles marched into the last eight after topping Group C unbeaten with identical 47- 0 wins over Taiwan and Belgium Barbarians.
Van Lieshout said his men started with a clean slate in the knock-out round and they need to put the two easy wins behind them.
“It will be a different day tomorrow ... going into the quarter-finals we need to come out strong. We can’t start slow tomorrow,” said the former All Blacks player yesterday.
“You will never know what will happen on the field after putting the team together only a week ago. Everything looked positive in training, there are things that we need to tidy up but I’m happy with the performance.
“Some of the boys picked up knocks today but my expectation will be higher tomorrow after two good “warm-up” matches.
“We need to keep the ball more and use our energy wiser on the attack.”
The national 7’s team, who finished second in Group B with a 7-42 loss to Hong Kong and a shock 28-0 win over Australian side Caloundra, will meet defending champions Iconz in their quarter-final clash.
National team coach Saizul Hafifi Mohd Noor said the team have achieved their target of reaching the quarter-final.
“We have achieved our target of reaching the quarter-final, we will see who we will play and I hope we can continue playing the same style,” said Saizul.
“We don’t put high expectations on the players, we just strive to do better than the target given to us... our main focus is to prepare for the SEA Games end of this year, so we just hope to continue the momentum.”
The national women’s team, who finished third in Group B with two defeats and a win, will take on Group A runners-up Hong Kong in the quarter-finals today.
The team were beaten 0-34 by Nagato Blue Angles and 0-48 to Southern District Rebelettes before beating Sabah Eagles 10-5.