The flyhalf position at Western Province and the Stormers almost appears cursed at the moment due to all the injuries in the position, but Robert du Preez is hoping to change things for the better in the Currie Cup.
All of Kurt Coleman, Jean-Luc du Plessis and Du Preez have been injured at various stages of the 2016 season, but Du Preez is the only one on the field right now, having recovered from a serious knee problem that kept him out for over three months.
He missed most of the Super Rugby campaign as a result, having started it as the first-choice pivot in the eyes of coach Robbie Fleck. Coleman took over, but also went down, and that saw Du Plessis get his chance.
But just when it seemed as if the son of WP legend Carel was going to make his own name at Newlands, Jean-Luc got hurt just before the quarter-final against the Chiefs, and Du Preez was thrust back into the No 10 jersey. It was a disastrous 60-21 defeat, and another loss to the Bulls in the Currie Cup opener saw Du Preez lose his place to Brandon Thomson.
It lasted just one game as the former SA Under-20 was brought back for the clash against the Sharks, who is coached by his father, and he produced a Man-of-the-Match display in a welcome 34-27 victory.
Now the 23-year-old hopes that Province can also bounce back from their 58-32 loss to the Golden Lions last week when they host the Pumas at Newlands on Saturday (5.10pm kickoff).
“It’s never nice being dropped, but when I came back, I wanted to stay there and do everything in my power to achieve that,” Du Preez said this week. “I’m slowly getting back into the space that I was in at the beginning of the year, but it hasn’t been easy to come back from the injury. But it doesn’t play on my mind at all, although it took a bit longer than we thought it would to get back.
“I’m never really happy… I’m very hard on myself and Dobbo even knows that. Even after the Man of the Match (against the Sharks), I still wasn’t happy. I just want to keep building on that and gain more confidence every game.”
Du Preez spoke about how the “hurt” of conceding 58 points will be a big motivator for the players in their quest to keep WP’s semi-final hopes alive. His optimism is shared by coach John Dobson, who believes that his team can still reach the last four, despite being sixth on the log with 13 points, six behind the fourth-placed Griquas.
After the Pumas fixture, they travel to Kimberley for a huge clash against Griquas, and finish off the round-robin against Boland at Newlands.
“To run a Currie Cup campaign with a squad of 25 is tough, but we are still in it. We won that (qualifier) competition and did well, but we are up against three Super Rugby sides. We are punching above our weight in some respects. We beat the Sharks, we should’ve beaten the Cheetahs, and we’re alive,” Dobson said.
“We are still determined to win the Currie Cup. Some big teams still have to play each other. There’s one combination that knocks us out – Bulls beat Griquas, Cheetahs lose to Lions and Sharks beat Lions at Ellis Park.
“If we get 15 points from our last three games, we’re most likely in the semi-finals. So it’s on for us. We’ve got a very hard game next week against Griquas, but our first job is this week.”
@ashfak.mohamed
Independent Media