Guts and glory: the battle of Newlands
Favourites Western Province have been shaken from any complacency after the escape against the Bulls, while the Sharks want to make amends.
Herschel Jantjies during the DHL Western Province captains run at DHL Newlands on October 26, 2018 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Shaun Roy/Gallo Images)
WESTERN PROVINCE: ‘We’ve manned up’
Viewed as one of Western Province’s biggest attacking threats in Saturday’s Currie Cup final at Newlands, fullback Dillyn Leyds says the hosts have manned up after almost being knocked out by the Blue Bulls last week.
Province needed an extra-time penalty by wing SP Marais to clinch their semifinal clash, and Leyds admitted this week they needed to take those lessons to heart if they wanted to retain the title against a very good Sharks side.
“In previous games we probably were making the right decisions but last weekend we were going for the safer option,” Leyds said.
“But we have had meetings about those opportunities not taken, and it was discussed and viewed where we can improve, and it’s obviously up to us to see where we can improve.”
While the headlines ahead of the final had been dominated by the Springbok squad announcement directly after the game, Leyds said the body language of the players signalled what the Currie Cup meant to them.
“We are also thankful that people are still turning up at Newlands to watch us play, and we have done ourselves proud by playing the kind of rugby that we are playing and bringing the crowds back to Newlands.
“Hopefully this weekend we’ll see an even bigger crowd because the guys drew a lot of energy in those last 20 minutes last weekend.”
Leyds believed the Bulls’ rush defence in the semifinal had made them realise they would have to come up with a different mindset against the Sharks defence, and they may be required to make better decisions.
“The Bulls defence put us under pressure last weekend,” he said.
“I wouldn’t exactly say we had less time on the ball, but they were accurate in what they were trying to do in order to put us under the pump.”
SHARKS: ‘We’ve grown so tight’
After a poor Super Rugby showing, Sharks want to make amends.
Ayear’s hard work will all boil down to today for the Sharks as they take on Western Province in the Currie Cup final at Newlands and try to take something out of a year that promised much but ultimately fell short of glory.
They scraped into the Super Rugby play-offs with an uninspiring campaign that saw them lose more matches than they won, and were promptly hammered by the Crusaders in their quarterfinal in Christchurch. But lifting the grand old Currie Cup, especially after being upstaged in last year’s final at home by Western Province, will make 2018 a year worth talking about at Kings Park.
“This young group has grown so tight and if we can win the final then hopefully they can just grow in strength from there.
“The tension and energy levels are up, which is important for us, but we also have to stay calm and relaxed on the field. Yet you can feel there’s a good vibe in the camp,” Sharks captain Louis Schreuder said.
Western Province boast tremendous attacking flair, but as the Blue Bulls showed last weekend in their epic semifinal, even the likes of Damian Willemse, Sergeal Petersen, Ruhan Nel and Dillyn Leyds will face unemployment during the game if the Sharks can take momentum, space and time away from the home side.
“I’m sure they’ve done their reflection on scraping through in extra time in their semifinal, it showed you cannot underestimate anyone and the Blue Bulls were unlucky not to win. You also factor in those extra 20 minutes, Western Province were stressed and they played later than us as well.
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