Tigers in hunt for Police scalp
Teams’ opening Super 12 victories lays platform for day of intrigue in Berlin
As the Eastern Cape Super 12 club rugby tournament gathers momentum, fans will be treated to the best of local fare when Berlin Tigers host Police in Berlin on Saturday.
With both teams’ coaches aiming to finish at the summit when the tournament concludes, it promises to be a cracking encounter with both sides having won their opening games last weekend.
Berlin Tigers coach Leo Mbini issued a stern warning to Police when saying they should expect a tough day at the office.
“We have the relevant experience in this tournament. I think it’s only once that we have never played in Super 12 and that will come in handy when we face league heavyweights like Police.
“And this time we are going there to compete and not just add numbers and enjoy ourselves because we need to start collecting silverware this season and that starts with Super 12,” said Mbini.
Tigers are fresh from a 5-0 victory against Komani-based Breakers, after the sides’ recent clash in Komani in their first Super 12 encounter of the season.
“As you know Police is one of the big teams in the Super League. I’ve been telling my players that we need not to respect teams now,” said Mbini. “Because, remember, my guys are younger and Police has experienced players and we always struggle with new players every season.
“And even this year that’s the case, but with the bunch we have, I’m confident that this team I have will surprise many people against Police.”
Mbini said playing a friendly against Walter Sisulu University as part of their preparations made a huge difference as the team had not played together since last year.
“The boys were on holiday so I had to check where we are in terms of play, and I managed to identify a lot of things we needed to work on before going to that first game against the Breakers.
“[After that] I was able to say that these are the people who will cope on the field and these guys still need a run before I draft them in,” said Mbini.
Police coach Fergus Kennedy said they were ready for Tigers after setting the tone with a 2416 win against Kruisfontein from Humansdorp this past weekend at EL’s Police Park.
“The guys were excited this past weekend playing their first home game. It was a biggie for us to lay a good foundation and prove a point with a good start on home soil.
“And we managed to achieve that and we got maximum points and I was happy about that,” said Kennedy.
He said although they didn’t play glamorous rugby, they still managed to crack the whip against the visitors.
“I think our forwards did well. They carried us in the game and we definitely dominated in setpieces and we could have easily come away with more points if we managed the game better.
“But we didn’t and that’s the disappointing part and we had to go back and sort those mistakes. But as the season progresses, we should get better,” said Kennedy.