Sanlam Boland Kavaliers are nine points away from reaching their preliminary objective in this year’s Carling Currie Cup Premier Division, but the ride ahead is going to get tougher, says head coach Hawies Fourie.
The Kavas are on a high after beating the Fidelity ADT Lions 29-10 in Sunday’s third-round game in Wellington.
The bonus-point win sees Boland gallop up the log – from sixth to third place – and strengthen their chances of trying to reach their main goal, which is to reach the semi-finals of the Carling Currie Cup.
And with 11 points in the bag after two bonus-point wins at Boland stadium and bagging one four-try bonus after an away loss to Suzuki Griquas, Fourie is upbeat about his team’s chances of getting to 20 points, with four league games left.
“We are on track with where we wanted to be, the Kavas mentor said after Sunday’s win. “We have set high goals and standards for ourselves.
“At the beginning of the competition, we said that we aim to get [at most] 20 log points, and we are currently on 11 at the moment with four games to go.”
However, warning that the road ahead will only become tougher, Fourie added: “It will be tough ask as we only have one home game left next week against the Vodacom Bulls.
“And then the last three games will all be away from home. But the team has improved with how we played during the SA Cup; we embraced the challenge, and we embraced the tour of going to see new places.
“We played well in the SA Cup against the Pumas in Nelspruit, where we lost by two points in the semi-final. That gave us a lot of confidence, and I am pretty sure we played to our potential. We can definitely get those remaining log points that we are looking for.”
Meanwhile, on the injury front, Fourie said he is not too concerned after watching team captain, Marlon Williams, exit the game during the first half after a head knock and the Kavas’ top try-scoring ace with seven five-pointers in three games, Donovan Don, also go down clutching his knee attempting to catch a high-ball during the second half.
Fourie continued: “We will have more clarity tomorrow with everyone getting scans and stuff. Marlon, sitting next to me, got a hit in the face, and there’s a bit of a bruise on the cheekbone, so we hope that there is no fracture.
“Donovan Don injured his knee, but the Doc also said to me it is not as serious as it looked on the field. So hopefully they will both be ready and able to be selected for the Bulls games.
“Other than that, there were a few guys that got cramps; it’s not easy to play here in the mud and heavy field, but there are no other serious injuries.”
