DHL Western Province captain Deon Fourie has predicted an ‘intense’ North-South Derby at Loftus Versfeld, as the Men in Blue & White stripes prepare to face up to the Vodacom Blue Bulls in Pretoria on Friday (19h10).
With plenty at stake for both sides this weekend, as the third-placed DHL WP chase a semifinal spot and the Bulls hope to get off the bottom of the Absa Currie Cup log, Fourie Graduation Dresses sale knows that no quarter will be given.
“A North-South Derby is one of the highlights of the year – especially at Loftus… it’s just that little bit more intense there.
“I think, especially with where the Bulls Homecoming Dresses sale are placed at the moment, they will want to rectify things and get back to winning ways again.”
DHL WP are coming off a loss this past weekend – going down 9-22 to the defending MTN Golden Lions – and currently have a win-loss record of 50% in the 2012 season. However, with just two games remaining in the regular season – ahead of the play-offs – they are still very much in contention for a semifinal place.
“We’ve spoken a lot this week about consistency in our own game,” admitted the DHL skipper. “(And) that’s the funny thing about rugby – you can be on top of the world the one week and down in the dumps the next (week).”
WP head coach Allister Coetzee agreed with his captain, saying: “With this strength-versus-strength Currie Cup there’s no real room for error.
“At this stage of the competition it can still change a lot and we’re all aware of that – some teams can suddenly fall out, whereas other sides can suddenly catapult themselves back into contention.
“But we’re not looking at the play-offs, it’s all about the next game for us. We know we weren’t good against the Lions and we want to improve on that.
“This is a different Bulls side,” he added, “they’ve got an all-Bok front row for starters. For every player who wants to make it in SA Rugby you have to pass the test at Loftus.”
Meanwhile, Province will head to Pretoria this week without powerful flanker Rynhardt Elstadt, after he suffered a recurrence of the rib cartilage injury which has plagued him since his side’s triumph over the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on September 5.
“It’s just unfortunate,” said Coetzee. “Rynhardt was supposed to be back last week, and we waited another week to make sure he would be 100 percent (ready). After all, cartilage is a difficult thing, it doesn’t heal that quickly.
“(But) unfortunately he took a knock, an elbow, on the same injury on Monday and he’s (now) right back where he started. It’s just freakish how he got a bump on the exact same spot.”
Elstadt saw a specialist on Tuesday and Coetzee concluded: “When we get the specialist’s report we’ll know if he will have to undergo surgery and what the process is going forward with the injury.”
