Elephants give Province the jitters

DEFENDING champions Western Province are leaving nothing to chance as they prepare for their opening SuperSport Rugby Challenge clash against the EP Elephants at Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele on Sunday.

While EP will start their campaign without a warm-up game, Western Province will head to Port Elizabeth after a training camp in Hermanus and an extensive pre-season training programme.

The Elephants had been scheduled to play the SWD Eagles in a friendly in Plettenberg Bay, but that game was called off at the last minute.

In their last warm-up, WP claimed a dramatic 37-35 win against Boland in a friendly match in Wellington, with two late tries seeing them snatch victory in the dying stages.

The friendly encounter gave the WP coaching staff a good chance to have a look at the depth available to them, with the Maties players involved the Varsity Cup final missing from the squad.

WP showed impressive resolve against Boland to keep fighting to the final whistle and they were rewarded with a last-gasp win.

Coach John Dobson said although his team had not played to their full potential, it was encouraging to see them get the result when under pressure.

“We did not play as well as we could have, but the team showed good character to pull off a win against a competitive Boland side.

“Our forwards were impressive, putting in a strong performance in the set-pieces and it was a good indication of our depth,” he said.

WP will be looking to repeat their heroics from last year, which saw them go through the inaugural competition unbeaten to claim the title.

It is expected Maties and Stormers players will bolster the squad that beat Boland.

The action at Wolfson Stadium gets under way at 10.30am with a Gold Cup qualifying game between Progress and Gardens.

Boland Cavaliers will play the Border Bulldogs at 1pm, before EP and WP clash in the main game at 3pm.

A total of 67 matches will be played in the competition, includes quarterfinals, semifinals and the final.

The tournament will take 13 weeks to complete and ends on July 15.

This is the second season of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge which, the organisers say, is designed to take rugby to the masses, unearth new talent and bridge the playing gap to Super Rugby.