Elephants have work cut out
Defending champions Western Province leave nothing to chance ahead of showdown
DEFENDING champions Western Province are leaving nothing to chance as they prepare for their opening Super-Sport Rugby Challenge clash against the EP Elephants at the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele on Sunday. While EP will start their campaign without a warmup game, Western Province will head to Port Elizabeth after a training camp in Hermanus and an extensive preseason 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 warmup, 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 in 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 of 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 the 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, including 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 Super-Sport Rugby Challenge which, the organisers say, is designed to take rugby to the masses, unearth new talent and bridge the gap to Super Rugby.
All 14 of South Africa’s provincial unions plus an invited Namibia Welwitschias side will play in three pools (North, South and Central) of five teams each on a home and away basis.
The top two teams from the pool stages automatically qualify for the quarterfinals, with the next two highest point scorers across all three pools joining them.
Eight Southern Kings PRO14 players are expected to be released to play for the Elephants.
EP Rugby Union president Andre Rademan said Kings head coach Deon Davids would help the Elephants prepare for a tough opener.
The team, scheduled to be named today, is expected to be a mixture of Kings, Madibaz and club players.