Cape Town - Western Province desperately need 15 log points over the next three weeks to secure a spot in the top-four and remain in contention for the Currie Cup trophy.
Not an easy task, but rugby writer Wynona Louw proposes five ways that they should go about it...
Make those tackles
WP have not produced the purest of defensive efforts this season and against the Golden Lions at Ellis Park last weekend, things really went haywire as they gave the Lions a whole bagful of free runs.
But that’s over now and today, against the hapless Pumas, they will have to pull out a top display of rugby if they want to make it to the playoffs.
Okay, they’re playing the second-from-the-bottom side in the competition, so WP’s ability to showcase a 10 out of 10 performance isn’t a matter of life and semi-final death.
But they will still have to play as well as they can to get those points. No tackles can be missed this afternoon and coach John Dobson has this week highlighted their poor kickoff defence.
Whether it’s in their own 22, in midfield or from the restart, that defensive system needs to come alive and the one-on-one tackles cannot be missed. Simple as that.
Another Sharks performance please, Robert du Preez
If ever you needed to produce another mercurial effort, Rob, today is that day. Du Preez was outstanding against the then-unbeaten Sharks two weeks ago and created three tries with magical touches off the boot.
Tactically, he was more pleasant to watch and his goal-kicking, while not perfect, wasn’t bad.
Few people expected WP to beat the Sharks, and I bet nobody expected them to win 34-27 (or a performance like that from Du Preez). So that should do enough for the confidence levels.
Today, it’s the Pumas, and given the stakes there’s no better time than this evening to show that Du Preez can consistently produce the magic touches.
Cheslin, just be Cheslin
Cheslin Kolbe has been rather quiet as of late. I don’t know when last I saw those sweet-stepping feet pay off (as in run a massively impressive line or distance or just really create something).
In the last few games, he mostly just kicked the ball from the back and we didn’t see him dance around defenders. Well, today, he should just be himself. He should attack from the back. He should confuse and cut through defences like we know he can.
And, even if Kolbe gets taken down, he can offload to the very reliable finishers on his outside...
Kok, Jones, Zas, Viljoen: turn on that gas!
Werner Kok and Leolin Zas are two worthy mentions when it comes to finishing. Zas impressed with his little chip and chase against the Lions (which he booted and caught himself, by the way) before diving over for the try.
He is dangerous at full pace, but he doesn’t always get the opportunity to put his skills on show. And Kok is another attacking asset. His speed is superb, his work-rate is tops and his power is something else. But he needs to get to use it - not at rucks and mauls, but when pacing to the tryline!
There’s also the returning Huw Jones, and EW Viljoen on his outside in midfield.
Jones has been in scintillating form and Viljoen impressively did his part alongside Johnny Kotze in Jones’ absence.
Dobson has spoken about getting more width on attack and when he has arsenal like this, it would be a sin not to. It’s a task that WP have become better at as the competition has progressed and they should definitely spread wide today to give these dangermen a real shot.
And it’s not even that Jonesy, as his coach calls him, needs much of a chance. We’ve seen a number of runaway tries from him in 2016 before his two-week layoff, so his comeback performance should be better than his previous outings.
Find your jumpers, Mikey
Another thing that is going to be vital is WP’s lineouts. Last week, they lost four of their own throws as Michael Willemse and replacement hooker Neil Rautenbach struggled to find their jumpers.
Their throw-ins have to be accurate. The skew lineouts will do them no favours and, depending on which angles they hit today, Monsieur Alexander Ruiz probably won’t tolerate much of it either. They need the set-piece to go well to launch a quick attack. After all, it’s all about getting those five points...
Teams for Newlands
Western Province:15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Werner Kok, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Huw Jones, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Kobus van Dyk, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Chris van Zyl (captain), 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Alistair Vermaak.
Bench:16 Neil Rautenbach, 17 Sti Sithole, 18 JP Smith, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Scott van Breda.
Pumas:15 Devon Williams, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 Hoffman Maritz, 12 Hennie Skorbinski, 11 JP Lewis, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Emile Temperman, 8 Renaldo Bothma (captain), 7 Lambert Groenewald, 6 Brian Shabangu, 5 Jannie Stander, 4 Stephan Greef, 3 Louis Albertse, 2 Frank Herne, 1 Khwezi Mona.
Bench:16 Simon Westraadt, 17 De Jay Terblanche, 18 Hugo Kloppers, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Kevin Luiters, 21 Heinrich Steyl, 22 Tyler Fisher.
Kickoff:5:10pm.
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France).
Weekend Argus