15a match report against Durbanville

It is fair to say that injuries have not been kind to us in 2015!

After losing a further two players in the buildup to Saturday’s game we then suffered a major setback when our lock and main lineout jumper was helped from the field in the 1st minute with a knee injury. However, I am not a coach who likes to hide behind injuries and refereeing decisions when results don’t go our way. At the final whistle I think the boys knew in their heart of hearts that despite the obstacles they faced they could still have won the game.

Only one team has managed to score more than 15 points against us this season (Boishaai in Paarl) so not to win having scored 24 points is disappointing. Throughout the season we have defended very well but on Saturday poor one-on-one tackles cost us dearly. It must be said that Durbanville had a couple of very decent backline players but they each had only two legs (unless I missed something!) so low, hard and committed tackling would have done the job on them. Too often we went high and didn’t fully commit to the tackle – the end result being 26 points scored against us and another narrow loss.

We scored four very good tries in this game. The three in the 2nd half were superb team tries where multiple players handled the slippery ball with great skill and our execution was spot on. This for me was a real positive on the day. We must take a lot of confidence from this. When we get desperate and start playing with intensity on attack we are very difficult to stop!

I will say it again… ‘It’s not important what happens to you, it’s your response that counts’.

Whoever gets the nod to play for the team on Saturday against Paul Roos in whatever position must realise that it is a privilege and honour to wear the SACS jersey. They must front up to any challenge that the opposition throws down and show courage and character throughout – that is the minimum requirement when playing for this team.

The coaches continue to have massive belief in the boys. Saturday is another opportunity to do something special. The boys will once again rise to the challenge.