No free ride in Bloemfontein
Western Province head to Bloemfontein in confident mood, but they know it will take another polished performance to beat the Cheetahs on their home turf.
The Cape side registered the first bonus point at Newlands this year when they ran the Blue Bulls ragged last week, but whilst the five-try performance was highly encouraging backline coach Rob Fleck sees it as the first step in their development rather than evidence of a finished product.
Fleck explained to this website that although his team's 42-6 demolition of the Blue Bulls last week was impressive, they are under no illusions as to the size of the task awaiting them in the Free State on Saturday.
"One swallow does not make a summer, but it was good to see. We were on the edge but effectively it all came together on the weekend which was nice
"The Cheetahs are a tough nut to crack in Bloem, technically they are a very good side and tactically they come up with some decent plans, so whenever they come up against us there is always something new," he said.
The Province backline coach is keen to see his charges develop their attacking skills further, and he believes that the clash with the Cheetahs is the perfect opportunity as they will have to adapt to the challenges that Naka Drotske's team will present.
"We want to try things in the Currie Cup to develop our game, and it is still going to take time because we are still facing a few hurdles in our way.
"We are not going to lose sight of the bigger picture so we are going to try things but it won't be as easy as it was on the weekend [against the Blue Bulls]," he said.
The Province midfield was especially impressive against the Blue Bulls last week, with Marcel Brache and JP du Plessis both getting on the scoresheet, but they will be up against a far more experienced centre partnership this weekend, and Fleck expects Andries Strauss and Robert Ebersohn to put them under some serious pressure.
"Andries Strauss has been around forever and he is a seasoned campaigner. He is a tough centre to play against, he is defensively very strong and carries the ball really well so he is going to be asking some questions of our defence through some good hard running and Robert Ebersohn has been one of the form centres in the country for a while.
"The Cheetahs rush defence is going to put us under pressure and JP [Du Plessis] and Marcel [Brache] are going to have different questions asked of them because they are not going to have as much space to attack in so they have got to adjust their games accordingly," he said.
Fleck said that although the Cheetahs are renowned for their attacking flair, they have developed a solid kicking game, which means that his team will have to be prepared for anything on Saturday.
"They have got a natural attacking game which we have all seen in the past but one part of their game that they have been working on is their kicking game, when they have to use it they do it pretty well and they have used it in the last two games we played against them in Super Rugby.
"They obviously find our defence quite tough to crack so they put us under pressure with a big kicking game so it depends what route they take. They are talking about running the ball at us but that might be a bit of smoke and mirrors so we will see what they bring to the table on the weekend," he said.
By Michael de Vries