It’s a new experience for the bulk of the Cheetahs team, but it’s one their captain Francois Venter says they must enjoy if they’re to come out on the right side of the result.
“It is something new, the hype is there, but it’s still rugby,” said Venter, who’ll lead the Bloemfontein-based team out against the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup final tomorrow.
It is the Cheetahs’ first final since 2009 and the last time they won the trophy was in 2007, when they beat the Golden Lions.
Venter’s team are coming off a thumping win against the defending champions, the Lions (55-17), but he says his team have to perform even better against the Bulls if they’re to come out on top.
“I want the guys to go out there and enjoy it, first and foremost,” said Venter.
“We started preparing for this final from day one, the work is done; we now need to go out and execute the plan.
“It’s a final and we have to be better than last week. The Bulls will pose different challenges than the Lions did, but our journey is not going to stop here at the semis. We must get better and keep growing.
“There’s no difference this week except that final is written on the jersey and there will be more people ... we’re playing to win, but we must first enjoy it.”
Venter added the experience of playing against an attack-minded team like the Lions last week would benefit his side against the Bulls. “It was a pressure game, against the defending champions, and I thought we did very well.
“We stuck to our plan, played our game, and our mentality was right. But now we must do it all over again ... nothing we’ve done before matters, it’s only the 80 minutes ahead of us that counts.”
The Cheetahs will start as hot favourites after winning all eight round-robin games, as well as last weekend’s semi-final, to comfortably top the log and the try-scoring charts. But Venter cautioned against being too over-confident.
“In a final everything is equal, anything can happen,” he said.
The Star