Shimlas not done yet

The FNB Shimlas' iffy start to their 2009 FNB Varsity Cup campaign presented by Steinhoff International bears an uncanny resemblance to the Free State Cheetahs team of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The Men from Bloemfontein were infuriatingly inconsistent in those days gone by (ironically, former tighthead prop Dougie Heymans - who is now involved with Shimla rugby - was part of that Cheetahs team), yet few pundits wanted to discount them.

A return of one win from three matches seems to suggest that the Free State students are perhaps approaching a watershed in their 2009 campaign, where casual questions are being asked of their play-off credentials without committing to the hasty write-off.

Head coach, Jaco Swanepoel, is also experiencing these conflicting emotions.

"Our season," the Kovsies mentor told varsitycup.co.za, "has been a double-edged sword to date. On the one hand, I feel a little disappointed, but conversely I also think that we've made some really good strides forward."

Swanepoel felt that his team had improved significantly against FNB Maties this past Monday - a match lost 26-5 - after a poor performance previously against NWU Pukke.

"To be honest, our performance against Maties made me feel even more disappointed because I feel that Maties are in a different class to Pukke," he said.

"The fact that we played well against a well-drilled team like Maties made the loss to a team like Pukke, who I believe are a similar team to us, even more disappointing."

Maties' dynamic centre duo of Morgan Newman and Paul Bosch cut the Shimla midfield to shreds on Monday and Swanepoel was so complimentary of their performance that he was of the opinion that Earl Snyman and Cameron Jacobs' chastening experience had enabled them to make the proverbial journey from "boys to men" in just 80 minutes.

Whilst the coach singled out his team's problems at the breakdown and scrum as areas of improvement, he felt that the laws used for the Varsity Cup had hamstrung the team to date and that the tournament should have adopted the same 'Hybrid ELVs' as those currently employed in the Super 14.

"The 'Hybrid ELVs' would've suited our gameplan perfectly - as it's focused (more) on an expansive approach. I also think that it's more in tune with an exciting competition like the Varsity Cup, where entertainment is very important," Swanepoel admitted.

"But it's useless to complain now," he added. "We simply need to re-focus our efforts and try to keep our campaign on track, as we have the potential to do well."

Nonetheless, Swanepoel agreed that the tournament had grown in stature in just one year, with all the teams exhibiting "much better preparation and expressing a will to win".

However, he had one tiny gripe, saying: "It's disappointing, in a way, that there isn't a bumper weekend like we had in George last year.

"I thought that week was the highlight of the inaugural tournament, where all the players were based in one location and where camaraderie could be built between players and coaches. It is, after all, why we play this great game of rugby."

FNB Shimlas travel to Johannesburg on Monday, February 23 for a clash against UJ at the UJ Stadium. Kick-off for this televised match is at 4.45pm.

By Heinz Schenk