Border aim to run EP Queens off their feet

● Coach says team have had little time to prepare ahead of derby

Border Women will have had little time to prepare going into their second match of the Women’s Premier Division against Eastern Province Queens at the Wolfson Stadium in Gqeberha tomorrow.

Nwabisa Ngxatu’s side are on top of the table with five points after their 17-11 win over Blue Bulls last Saturday.

The team only got together once this week, yesterday.

Many of the players don’t live near the team ’ s base in East London.

The squad will travel to Gqeberha today.

The logistical problem for the team has been something they manoeuvred around since their preseason.

They were afforded only five weeks to prepare for the season and they only meet on weekends.

Border have not complained about the hindrance and made the most of their time when they got together to prepare for the next fixture.

“Most of our players live outside East London, so with the little time we had, we tried to cover many things,” Border head coach Ngxatu said.

“We have not had enough time to prepare.

“The girls only met on Thursday to prepare for the coming match.

“We start by reviewing our previous game and work on our mistakes and areas of improvement.

“Then we focus on the next match.

“We have watched EP’s game.

“We looked at the areas to focus on between the forwards and the backs.”

Ngxatu is still trying to get the team to play her way.

Against the Bulls there were flashes of her methods of sticking to the Border way of running rugby, with the forwards laying a foundation for the backs to thrive.

“We can’t just play with no plan; we gave the team a structure, the way we want to play.

“A year without playing was long for the girls and the time we had to prepare was not enough. We still need to work.

“The girls are going to play every weekend, so by the time we get to the third game, they will be playing better rugby.”

The Queens will not be a pushover for Border.

They won their opening match away to the Sharks Women 13-5.

The last time the teams met, in 2019, EP won the derby.

Going into the weekend encounter, Border is determined to come out on top this time around.

“This is a must-win match. The last time we played, they beat us by one point. Our girls are positive and looking forward to winning the match,” Ngxatu said.