Still a long haul to get battle ready

The eight top rugby teams in the country, who are destined to play in next month’s Currie Cup competition, could face various challenges in order to be battle ready, Lions coach Cash van Rooyen believes.

The Currie Cup was set to start at the end of August, in an attempt to break the shackles for SA players after four months of isolation, but it had since been revealed the competition could be pushed back even further to the middle of September.

“To be honest, in an ideal world we would like to hold a warm-up match or two to get ready for the Currie Cup,” said Van Rooyen, who steered the Golden Lions to the Currie Cup final in Bloemfontein last season where they lost 31-28 to the Cheetahs.

“We wouldn’t really like to call it trials as such, but rather just an opportunity to play against one another in order not to go blindly into that first eagerly awaited match.”

Local teams were hoping to get the green light for a return to contact training within the next two weeks, after they began stretching their legs with no-contact training last week.

“Obviously it would depend on our government, when they will give the go-ahead and when we can start making that much-needed contact again,” Van Rooyen said.

“If they inform us just two or three weeks before the first game that we can start making contact, then unfortunately we won’t be ready for a warm-up game.” However, if they were told they could start making contact quite soon, Van Rooyen believed they would be able to fine-tune ahead of a warm-up fixture, considering the lengthy lockdown period.

“I think one would need two or three weeks at least before your first match, by way of a warm-up match of some kind,” he said.

“So I think all the teams in the country are waiting anxiously for that long-awaited green light from the authorities.”