Cheetahs plan 'in your face' game

The Cheetahs learnt some harsh lessons in their 43-point drubbing at the hands of the Crusaders last week, a schooling they have taken to heart.

Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské, speaking to rugby365 ahead of their Super Rugby Round Sevens encounter with the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday, said they will not beat themselves up about the result.

"We worked hard this week to turn things around," he said, adding: "We were very competitive the first 50 minutes and we had plans in place.

"However, after the yellow card [of fullback Willie le Roux] we deviated from the game plan."

The coach spoke of "silly mistakes" and three turnovers the resulted in three soft tries for the Crusaders.

"The scrums are also important for us to sort out and we have worked hard on those," he said, after Springbok Coenie Oosthuizen was yellow-carded for repeated scrum infringements.

While numerous experts, including renowned former Test referee Jonathan Kaplan, has called on referees to put an end to the illegal scrumming of the Crusaders' All Black Wyatt Crockett - tactics which also saw the Lions' prop Julian Redelinghuys sin-binned a week before - the Cheetahs were not about to get into a public debate about SANZAR's unwillingness to be firm about refereeing inadequacies.

"You can't beat yourself up," he said about the outcome of their encounter with the Crusaders, adding: "We must remain positive and look forward to the next match."

He said they can still turn the tour into a success, despite the poor start.

"Two years ago we lost 8-45 to the Chiefs and then won our next three matches on tour," Drotské told rugby365, adding: "It will be of no use to get negative and start pointing fingers.

"We have put that behind us and our focus is on the Chiefs."

Even though the Chiefs have just returned from a two-match tour of South Africa - which saw them demolish the Stormers and slip to a one-point loss against the Sharks in a spiteful match in Durban - Drotské said they will be as tough as the Crusaders to overcome.

"They showed the last few years they are one of the top teams in the competition.

"If you give them any space in broken play, given the quality of their off-loading, then you will be in trouble.

"You have to be in their faces and tactically our kicking game will have to be spot on."

He said the need to eliminate mistakes and quality set pieces are key to victory in Hamilton.

"All New Zealand teams are dangerous from turnover ball.

"As we have seen set pieces are important in every game, because that is where it all starts ."

By Jan de Koning

@rugby365com