Lions to be caught napping?
Western Province are hoping that Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann's decision to rest his frontline players last week backfires in their semifinal this weekend.
The defending champions host Province for their second consecutive Currie Cup semifinal on Saturday, but it is the visitors who arguably carry the most momentum in the match having cruised to a comfortable victory over the Cheetahs last week, whilst the Lions suffered a heavy defeat at home to the Blue Bulls.
Ackermann's decision to rest most of his stars was based on the fact that they were going to finish in second place regardless of the result against the Bulls, and the aim was that they will be refreshed and raring to go this weekend.
Western Province backline coach Rob Fleck told this website that while the reasoning behind Ackermann's decision was sound, it was also something of a gamble that could backfire on the home team on Saturday.
"When you rest your players then they get nice and fresh for the crucial play-off matches. Especially when it comes to a longer season like it is at the moment then it makes sense for your star players to get as much rest as possible.
"However, there is always that risk that when you do rest these players you don't get that continuity that you are always looking for in your team selection and in terms of the way the guys play," he explained.
The return of their Springboks meant that Province also fielded a couple of different combinations ahead of the play-offs, but Fleck feels that his team will carry more confidence into the knock-out clash given the differing fortunes of the two teams last week.
"For us it was important that we got to play our Boks last week which was great obviously for the result, but it really gave comfort to the guys in the side playing with them and getting used to each other again.
"Taking a heavy loss against the Bulls last weekend will obviously impact on them, it will almost be in the back of their minds that they lost to a full-strength Bulls side going into this game, so that is the only concern that you do have - that you don't have that continuity in terms of winning as well as getting continuity in your team selection," he said.
One factor which will give the home side plenty of confidence on Saturday is their current five-match Currie Cup winning streak against the Cape outfit, and Fleck admitted that given the recent history between the sides at Currie Cup and Super Rugby level it is almost impossible to pick a favourite.
"It is tough to say who is favourite to be honest. With our Super Rugby side we beat them this year and with our junior side in the Currie Cup we lost to them, but then we lost to them in the semifinal last year with a full-strength side so it is quite tough with players coming in and out to define who is the favourite," he said.
Province are hoping that their experience of play-off rugby will stand them in good stead in Johannesburg, and Fleck added that they are determined to prove that they can handle the inevitable pressure to answer their critics who continually point to the 12-year trophy drought in Cape Town.
"This is our fourth or fifth semifinal in as many years, so we are trying to keep the guys as focused as possible. In the past we have possibly put a bit of pressure on the guys to step it up because it is a semifinal and there is always that chat of '12 years' you know.
"There is enough pressure coming through the media, friends of the players and people on the street, so that pressure is going to come regardless, it is just about how we handle it," he said.
By Michael de Vries