Western Province have nothing to lose and everything to play for when they face the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup semifinal at Newlands on Saturday.
So says returning Springbok Damian Willemse.
The 20-year-old believes the north-south derby is still as fiercely contested as in the past and with Saturday’s match being a knockout encounter, the two teams will go at each other hard.
Of the rivalry, Willemse says: “The north-south derby is a big game – one I grew up watching.
“Every game against the Bulls is a big one and there will be nothing to lose and everything to gain on Saturday.”
If Province want to play with that sort of fearlessness, they will have to man up on defence.
BOSS: John Dobson. Photo: CHRIS RICCO/BACKPAGEPIX
Heading into the semifinal, Province have not only scored the most tries in the tournament (38), but also conceded the least (16).
And after beating the Bulls 34-7 in the half-time match last weekend, defence coach Norman Laker says they would like a repeat of that performance for the full 80 minutes on Saturday.
Laker riffs: “We only conceded one try in 40, if we can keep that up for 80, I will be a happy man.
“Semifinals are not the same as pool games – there is one opportunity and no second chances.
TOUGH COACH: WP defence coach Norman Laker. Photo: CHRIS RICCO/BACKPAGEPIX
“On defence, we will continue how we play – the most important part is to make sure the defence is perfect in this sort of game.
“As a team, we pride ourselves on D.
“It’s not perfect yet, we conceded one try past weekend and there are a few things we have to improve on.”
With Province dominating the past two seasons in the Currie Cup under head coach John Dobson, Laker says the defending champions have tweaked a number of things since their successes last campaign.
He adds: “We try to improve training standards – there are small tweaks that we made to make sure that we prepare perfectly.
“I believe the message should be consistent and it’s important to make sure we best prepared team we can be.”