Elephants cannot allow Bulldogs leeway

Border pride won’t make it any easier for counterparts

TO HAVE any chance of clawing their way off the bottom of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge log, EP’s Elephants must beat Border Bulldogs, their arch-rivals, at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane on Sunday.

Even a win over the Bulldogs, however, will not be enough if the Elephants fail to beat the Boland Cavaliers in their final outing in Port Elizabeth on June 23.

The Elephants have five points after six outings, while the second-frombottom Bulldogs have 11 points behind their name after seven matches.

Six defeats have left the Elephants marooned at the bottom of the South Section log and out of contention for the money-spinning playoffs at the end of the season.

With 15 000 fans expected to cheer the Bulldogs on at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium, the Elephants can expect a hostile environment in Mdantsane.

With pride and bragging rights at stake in this mouthwatering derby, it should be a try-laden thriller.

In the early game of the festival, the Sharks face Griquas in a key Central Section encounter that should get the day off to a lively start.

This is the fourth festival in the competition after previous all-day events at the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele, the Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg and the Bridgton Sports Ground in Outdtshoorn.

When the Elephants faced the Bulldogs in the opening round of the competition, the East London side emerged narrow 22-17 winners.

After trailing 10-3 at the break, Border turned the tables on the Elephants when they had the wind at their backs in a hard-fought showdown.

Elephants’s coach Ryan Felix felt that was a game his team could have won if they had taken advantage of all the opportunities that came their way.

After a heavy 47-28 defeat in their last game against the SWD Eagles, Felix expressed his disappointment that the Elephants had failed to implement their game plan.

“I was so disappointed with our first-half performance against the Eagles and at the break, I told the boys to go back to what we had planned during the week,” said Felix.

Elephants captain Siya Mdaka has promised his team will go back to the drawing board and work hard to fix their mistakes before their final two games

After trailing 28-0 at halftime, the Elephants showed their fighting spirit with tries from Riaan Arendse, Nkululeko Marwana, Mbeko Kota and Quinton Haasbroek.

“We had a bad start in the first half against the Eagles when we trailed 28-0,” said Mdaka.

“EP were forced to play catch-up rugby after the first half.

“EP left it too late to actually get into the game. Now the team will go back to the drawing board and fix our mistakes.

“On the positive side there were passages where we did things right.”

The 15 teams in the competition are divided into three regional pools (North, South and Central) of five teams.

Each team plays home and away matches against the other four teams in their pool over a 10-week period.

The top two teams from each pool, along with the two third-placed teams with the best record, will progress to the playoffs which will comprise quarterfinals, a semifinal and a final.

The tournament winners will pocket a handsome prize of R500 000 when the competition reaches its conclusion on July 15.