Griquas responded really well to Lions onslaught, says Pieter Bergh.
TAFEL Lager Griquas remained modest yesterday in the post-match review of their match in which they recorded a whopping 49-17 win against the visiting Sigma Lions during their Carling Currie Cup encounter on Wednesday night.
Head coach Pieter Bergh said in many ways several things came together at once for the Kwaste.
“Getting five points from the game was very important for us and also, in the end, winning by a big margin was also good as you never know if the points difference will play a role going forward in the competition,” Bergh said.
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Asked what the formula for success was this time around, the coach didn’t beat about the bush. “I felt the foundation was laid upfront with our pack of forwards,” he said. “We really scrummed well and won 16 of 17 line-outs which is very pleasing. We scored seven tries and were held up twice over the goal line and dropped a ball with an open tryline as well so all in all very happy with the performance,” he added.
About the quality of the opposition they met on the field the Griquas coach was philosophic. “The Lions have been going through a rough patch this season but selected their strongest team yet this year for this match. So we knew it would not be easy but the players responded really well.
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“The Lions were desperate to get their first win and we responded really well by defending very well conceding only two tries and scoring seven.”
The coach had his eye on the performance of his own charges at home too.
“I thought Johan Mulder and Sango Xamlashe, who both started their first matches for Griquas, played really well, and Rynhardt Jonker had a very good game as well. He created a lot of opportunities in attack for us.
“In the forwards, Hanru Sirgel had a really good game and Siba Qoma is also playing brilliant rugby carrying ball and is very strong in defence.
On Wednesday, Griquas played as an organised unit and were dominant in many areas of play against the Lions and it showed in their overall dominance of the game.
“They (Lions) did try and put us under pressure by keeping the ball and playing (at) high tempo but I thought overall our defence handled it very well. There are areas we will look at and review where we could have slowed their ball down more but conceding only two tries against them was something to be proud of.”
A massive positive like the one achieved against the Lions on Wednesday afternoon would naturally incline a coach towards leaving the squad unchanged or do so with minor tweaks of the side.
Bergh said: “I believe in continuity and will never make a lot of changes to teams I coach. Whenever you make many changes to a team you always lose rhythm continuity. So we will stick to our plans for the rest of the season and freshen things up if we need with one or two changes but overall I cannot see us making many changes,” he said.
Griquas’ next appointment in the series is 21 days later against the Cell C Sharks who will also be visiting Tafel lager Park on March 6 in a game scheduled to kick off at 5.45pm.
