Cape Town - A dip in confidence is something that Scarra Ntubeni and Western Province have in common, and both parties will have a chance to regain their swagger with an emphatic victory against winless Griquas at Newlands on Saturday (kick-off 5.05pm).
“We just need to get the belief back in the camp,” the WP hooker said. “I think we’ve done that quite well this week, throwing all the baggage off and starting fresh.”
Ntubeni’s doubt comes from having spent three months on the sidelines stewing over the disappointment of the Stormers’ most recent playoff blowout.
A 20-minute effort against the Brumbies in June accounts for all the live action he’s seen since the end of May.
In the aftermath of that loss, the 24-year-old had been encamped with the Springboks, even though he knew he was surplus to requirements.
Last week, he and fellow Bok hopeful Steven Kitshoff were omitted from Heyneke Meyer’s 31-man World Cup squad.
“I knew about six or seven weeks ago that I wasn’t going to be in the squad, so that was old news for me,” Ntubeni said.
“It’s good to be home and coming back here has been so exciting with (coach) John Dobson wanting me to come back.
“The past few months of my career have been a bit unsettled - getting injured towards the end of Super Rugby and not playing at all while I was at the Boks.
“That sense of being wanted is very important, I’m a player that uses that. I perform and feel more comfortable with people that want me around, if you know what I mean.”
Ntubeni was released for Currie Cup duty three weeks ago and played off the bench in successive road losses against the Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs.
Dobson hails Kitshoff as “arguably the best loosehead in South Africa” after naming him and Ntubeni to start in the front row for this evening.
The Newlands faithful will be hopeful that the reunion of the Stormers scrum-buddies rescues Province from a two-game slump.
“That’s a challenge we have to accept,” Ntubeni said. “The scrum is an area that Steven and I would like to make a big difference, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and say we’re going to go out there and demolish everyone.
“Steven is also excited to be back and for us to play together, and we’re just going to build an innings, we’re not going to go out there and try and be superheroes.
“Hopefully we’ll pick up where we left off in that department during Super Rugby.”
Ntubeni and Kitshoff teamed up in the Stormers front row to obliterate all comers this year, and the equivalent impact on the WP scrum against the men from Kimberley on Saturday will do much to improve the output of a pack that has this season looked more comfortable galloping than grinding.
Rookie fetcher Chris Cloete makes his starting debut in a back row that looks more conventional with Rynhardt Elstadt on the blindside, while half-backs Nic Groom and Kurt Coleman will be responsible for out-manoeuvering a laissez-faire Griquas outfit that has nothing to lose.
“All they want to do is get into our 22 and then they will try and bully us,” Dobson said.
“They really won’t come here and play a percentage game or try and manage the game.
“They’ll throw everything at it and, if it comes off, it can be tricky so we’ll have to be careful. If we don’t win this game then we’re in very serious trouble.
“But we’ve looked at the permutations on the log; we can redeem ourselves over the next three weeks and be right back in it.”
“In 2012, the odds were even worse,” Ntubeni added. “We were 20- and 21-year-olds scrumming against the Bok pack, and we still won the Currie Cup after losing five games.
“We’ve only lost two games so far, so there’s still a long way to go. You can never write off a tournament in the first four weeks.”
Line-ups for Newlands
WP: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Jaco Taute, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr (captain), 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 JP Smith, 18 Chris van Zyl, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Godlen Masimla, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Dillyn Leyds.
Griquas:15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Sandile Ngcobo, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Ruhan Nel, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Carel Greeff, 7 RJ Liebenberg, 6 Hilton Lobberts, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jaco Nepgen, 3 Stephan Kotze, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts. Replacements: 16 AJ Le Roux, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Ewald Van Der Westhuizen, 19 Jonathan Adendorf, 20 Leon Karemaker, 21 Gouws Prinsloo, 22 Jacquin Jansen.
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
Weekend Argus