Tiger now has Eagles in sights
The Border Bulldogs face a massive challenge in bouncing back from a poor start to the Currie Cup First Division when they take on the South Western District Eagles at the Buffalo City Stadium on Friday night.
The Bulldogs opened their campaign with a disappointing 66-27 defeat to the Valke and will need to produce a big response if they are to get their campaign back on track with a win against the Eagles.
The stakes will also be very high considering both teams lost this past weekend, although the Eagles was a much closer 27-25 home loss against the Leopards.
“We have to put what happened against the Valke aside and focus on what is in front of us now which is SWD on Friday,” said Bulldogs coach Tiger Mangweni.
“It is going to be a big match, both teams lost on the weekend, so both will be hungry to get the win and that will make it a very tough encounter.”
The Bulldogs have been hard at work this week trying to fix the problems that plagued them during the opening match.
Their defence will have been a big concern, while they will also need to keep improving on the stronger parts of their game.
The team had field, video and gym sessions on Monday and Tuesday as well as team briefings, they will have the day off on Wednesday and will have a captains run on Thursday ahead of Friday night’s match.
“The defence was a concern in the last match, we managed to keep them at bay for large stages but then lost concentration at crucial moments and that is something we must work on, especially our one-on-one tackles,” admitted Mangweni.
“Our attack is looking good, but we also missed a number of opportunities and we have to make sure that we are much more ruthless going forward, while we must continue to improve on our set-piece play which is pretty solid.
“Our kick-offs are also something that we have to improve, our kick-off receiving was not good and we have to also be more competitive when we kick-off.”
The team is not expected to make many changes as all the players emerged from the first match without any serious concerns, with just a couple of niggles that may see some players rested.
“We have not decided on the side yet, but we might make one or two changes but I do not see many changes, most of the players are fine and available and we want to build some momentum and cohesion in the team,” said Mangweni.
The Bulldogs will be desperate not to suffer another loss in the competition as it will set them back drastically and they will have to be at their best if they are to beat an SWD side that beat them twice during the SuperSport Rugby Challenge competition earlier this year.
“We have to bounce back with a win, we know what is at stake now and we are confident we can get a positive result,” said Mangweni.
Friday night’s action kicks off at 7pm.