Trevor Nyakane. Photo: Gallo Images.
To be stricken with a loss of focus against a fired-up Western Province side was awful timing for the Blue Bulls, and tighthead prop Trevor Nyakane admitted the team did not pitch mentally for their Currie Cup match against the defending champions at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend.
The result was a 34-7 hammering in a game called off at half-time due to lightning and torrential rain, and a bloodbath in the scrums, led by Nyakane’s opposite number Wilco Louw, who was scrumming against Matthys Basson, who has now been ruled out of the semifinal against Western Province this weekend at Newlands, with a calf injury.
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“Wilco did really well and as a Springbok tighthead you would expect nothing else. But we did not pitch up in the scrum battle.
“It gets you angry as a tighthead when things like that happen because that’s our job. It was hard to swallow. We didn’t pitch, so it’s a mindset problem, we need to be ready mentally, we just weren’t there on Saturday. You do that against a team like Western Province and you’re looking for trouble,” Nyakane said.
He said the freakish weather conditions were no excuse for the Blue Bulls’ lack of focus.
“No, we were just not there, it’s difficult to tell why. The same thing happened to them with the weather disruptions, but they stayed mentally focused. So we have to go back to square one, but it’s a semifinal and anything can happen.
“We can’t go out and pick on Wilco Louw or anybody else, but he is a strong point for them and the set-piece is very important, if you don’t dominate there then you are in trouble.
“We have to find a way to neutralise their scrum and put our backs in play. The only good thing is, that game is done, points no longer matter, it’s over and whoever wins next Saturday goes through,” Nyakane said.
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