As we prepare for the Cheetahs match at AMI Stadium on Saturday night, I believe we’re in a good position – both in terms of our place on the Rebel Sport Super 14 table and also the way we’re playing.
We’re second on the table, four points behind the Bulls, and ground out a great win over the Waratahs last Saturday night.
Just as significant is the way we’re playing, which is a mixture of styles – and I believe that’s important.
Some other New Zealand teams are playing open, running rugby against defences who aren’t committing numbers to the breakdown. You can be a little vulnerable when that happens because, although the new law interpretations mean you have more chance of retaining possession at the breakdown, it is tough running the ball at a defensive brick wall.
The Crusaders on the other hand are playing more of a mixture. We’re playing with width but also we are trying to get through teams closer to the breakdown. You need to be adaptable this season.
The ‘pick-and-go’ from the ruck is proving a popular tactic and we used it well against the Waratahs. Again, that’s because teams aren’t committing numbers to the breakdown and the pick-and-go draws players in.
Field position, too, is crucial. There hasn’t been as much kicking this season, which is a good thing, but intelligent kicking is very important.
We are doing the basics well. We still want to improve our lineout, but our scrum is going very well and our decision making on attack is good.
Against the Waratahs I was really proud that we held them out for something like 28 phases before they scored their try. They were good enough to score in the end because of a clever kick through, but we made them earn that try and it didn’t seem to take anything out of our legs because we went straight back on attack and stayed there.
It’s important to get straight to your feet and back into the defensive line after making a tackle and we did that superbly.
It was great to play in front of such a good crowd on Saturday night. There were about 22,000 there and it was probably the noisiest crowd of the season – perhaps reflecting the intensity of the battle, which as I said straight after the match, was like a Test.
Earlier on Saturday I attended the match at Rugby Park between New Brighton and High School Old Boys and there was a very good crowd for that match too which was heartening to see.
We would love another great crowd to support us against the Cheetahs. I well remember last season when we lost to them in Bloemfontein, with Leon MacDonald kicking a penalty for us after the hooter to earn a bonus point. The Cheetahs haven’t won many this season but form means nothing in this competition.
We’ll go into the match confident of doing well – as we do every match, but we won’t be going in with a complacent attitude.
The Cheetahs are a team who like to throw the ball around and they have some threats in their backline. Winger Jongi Nokwe is one of the fastest men in the competition and how he matches up against our quick guys should be interesting.