Boland coach happy with 'good start' but wants improved showing against Lions
It has been a solid start to life back in the upper echelons of the Currie Cup for the Boland Cavaliers, after returning to the Premier Division for the first time since 2016, with them opening with a win and an entertaining loss in their first two games.
They stunned the Cheetahs 37-35 in an epic encounter at the Boland Stadium in Wellington to get their campaign off to the best possible start, before giving the Griquas a run for their money during a 48-39 loss in Kimberley last weekend.
Both games were thrilling affairs, with a number of brilliant tries scored, but defences on both sides were found wanting on a number of occasions.
Despite picking up six points already, and sitting a handy fifth on the Currie Cup log, Cavaliers coach Hawies Fourie is expecting more, and improving on the number of penalties they have conceded in the first two games is key to doing that.
Penalty pressure
'We have put a lot of pressure on ourselves with the number of penalties we have conceded in the first two games,' explained Fourie.
'Against the Cheetahs, in the second half, we conceded eight penalties and only received one, before the final 10 minutes, when we got three in that sequence to come back and score two tries to win the game.
'In the whole Griquas game we conceded 15 penalties while only having four go our way. So it is important for us not to concede so many penalties when we are under pressure.'
Fourie continued: 'Stopping of the (opposition) mauls and our scrums have been the main source of penalties (against us), so we have been working hard on that and I am confident we will be better in those areas this coming weekend.
'If we are not then the same sequence will happen. We have to be well disciplined and concede less penalties, so that we can take some pressure off the defence. Because any team will concede tries if they give the opposition 15 set piece entries into their 22m.'
Focus on Lions
Despite that loss the Cavaliers are now fully focused on their clash with the Lions and know they will need to be at their best to stand any chance of picking up a win, or walking away with as many points as possible to aid their lofty goal of making it into the competition playoffs.
'We said to ourselves that we want to compete in this competition and set ourselves a goal of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the semifinals. It is a tough ask but we have high expectations for ourselves,' said Fourie.
'So getting off to a reasonably good start makes a big difference. We were in a position to beat the Griquas in Kimberley which doesn't happen very often. We threw that away with a lot of penalties and turnovers conceded, and they were just too good for us in that last period.
'That was disappointing. I feel if we could have pulled that one off we would have been in a really strong position. But there are still five games left and I think we need about 13 or 14 points from them to get into the semifinals.'
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