There is a lot at stake in this match for Griquas even though they have come far under the guidance of coach Scott Mathie.
TAFEL Lager Griquas visit the Vodacom Bulls on Wednesday in Pretoria on the back of their 45-42 loss at the hands of Sigma Lions at Tafel Lager Park last Friday in what was a high scoring game in the Carling Currie Cup series…
There is a lot at stake in this match for Griquas even though they have come far under the guidance of coach Scott Mathie.
Since the incumbent coach took the reins, Griquas have reeled in four wins, managed one draw and suffered three losses. And so on Wednesday they go into the game against the Bulls placed third on the Currie Cup log.
As for the Bulls, Friday’s 35-28 loss to the Sharks slid them down to second spot on the log.
Despite the Bulls’ recent hiccup, the visiting Kimberlites have a mountain to climb at Loftus on Wednesday, even though for once in a long while, Griquas are still very much in contention in this competition thanks to their recent fighting form.
— Griquas Rugby (@GriquasRugby) August 10, 2021
This will be their first runout against the Blue Bulls this season, after the first clash was called off allowing the Bulls to take on, and beat South Africa ‘A’ ahead of the Springboks’ vs British and Irish Lions Test series.
Griquas will be looking for a booster to undo their three losses and therefore a loss against the Bulls is not on the table for a determined Griquas team.
Griquas head coach Scott Mathie has done some homework since the narrow loss to the Lions last week.
The line-out issues in that last match have received some attention from the coach according to Mathie, when he spoke to the DFA.
“We didn’t win our line-out ball (against the Lions). Therefore allowing the Lions to gain too much possession. And with a quality attacking side like the Lions, it puts your defence under unnecessary pressure.
“If we sort out these issues (ahead of the Bulls game) it will help us in our kicking game and give us more possession to enforce our own attacking game plan,” he said.
• Just before the team embarked on their tip to Loftus Versveld in Pretoria, the coach admitted that this was not going to be an easy trip, to put it mildly.
“Yes it is obviously going to be a tough fixture away at Loftus. We have a lot of injuries which is the biggest thing (we are concerned about) and we are trying to get some combinations right going into this game.
“We have lost about five or six players from the last week or two, so it is important that we find that team cohesion for the Bulls game,” the coach said.
“Obviously there’s a massive set-piece battle that awaits us,” he added. “They contest line-outs very well and (work hard) in the scrums, but as you know we are confident on the attack and we have proven that we can play on the road and we can cover each other and defend very well.
“So we have to have a complete team performance to beat the Bulls on match day,” Mathie concluded.
Additional Reporting by Dave Alexander
Log standings:
