While Western Province should be boosted by the return of prop Steven Kitshoff ahead of this weekend's Currie Cup encounter against Griquas at Newlands, they suddenly find themselves in a bit of scrap to qualify for the semi-finals.
With the Blue Bulls and the Lions 10 points ahead of third-placed Province following the fourth round of fixtures, only two points separate WP and the sixth-placed Pumas.
Two successive away defeats against the Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs (28-21 last Friday in Bloemfontein) have put WP and new coach John Dobson under a bit of pressure going into Saturday's must-win match against the side from Kimberley.
Having hosted the final last year, Dobson admitted over the weekend that it's going to be difficult this time around after stumbling over the last few weeks. “The two losses hurt a lot. When we started the competition ... we'd like to host a final, and the loss may well have put paid to that,” the WP coach said.”We still have some really hard games ahead. It's really disappointing.”
Kitshoff is certainly going to enhance the side, and will play his last few matches for WP until the end of the Currie Cup after he signed a contract with French Top 14 club Bordeaux-Begles.
But loosehead prop and their scrum are not really areas where Province are struggling at the moment. Their defence, option taking, unforced errors and too many turnovers are massive concerns.
A sloppy first quarter against the Cheetahs, in which players like flyhalf Demteri Catrakilis made a few costly errors, meant that WP were playing catch-up against the Free State side from basically the second minute of the match.
Because of issues at the breakdown, which was slightly better against the Cheetahs after last week's capitulation against the Bulls, WP's star-studded backline hasn't had a lot of front-football to have a go.
The Bulls and the Cheetahs have shown how effective they can be from turnover ball and when they get momentum on attack. But, at the moment, this WP side are trying to make magic happen from scraps. And because of this, they are becoming too reliant on individuals to try and make things happen.
There's also been lot of lateral running by the team's inside backs, and they have really missed the straight running of injured captain Juan de Jongh. Especially if he was going to run out at inside centre, because Jaco Taute hasn't quite find his best form so far this season.
WP, though, don't have a lot of options to cover No 12, with outside centre Huw Jones and flyhalf Robert du Preez probably the only other players suited to play in that position. But then you will have a situation where WP go into a match with their third centre combination in five matches, and with an inside centre who hasn't played in that position at this level.
But De Jongh would have been even more important on defence, as the WP back division look at sixes and sevens when they don't have the ball. De Jongh's organisation skills and experience on defence are priceless when his team doesn't have the ball, especially from turnover ball, which is the hardest ball to defend.
But what's alarming is the amount of first-time tackles they are missing, which has given teams a chance to get in behind them. The Bulls managed to exploit it, and the Cheetahs did it to a certain extent, as that gave them freedom to hurt WP with their offloading in the tackle.
But the Cape side need to get some momentum ahead of crucial matches against the Sharks in Durban and the Bulls at Newlands. Three wins over the next three weeks can maybe even get them back fighting for a home semi-final.
But, for that to happen, they have to cut out their mistakes, compete hard at the breakdown and at least make a tackle or two. - Cape Times