Border face dogged fight to escape quicksand

Three games, three loses, zero victories, zero points and bottom of the eight-team South Section. This is how the Vodacom Cup 2015 record for the Border Bulldogs reads.

Bulldogs went down to Griquas by 37-25 this past weekend and the going is not getting any easier for the East London side as they travel to the on-form Western Province this coming weekend.

Bulldogs co-coach, David Dobela has admitted that playing good rugby alone without winning was not good enough.

According to him, the Bulldogs were struggling with confidence in the opening 20 minutes of their games.

This is exactly what cost them the game against Griquas who “were there to be beaten”.

What contributed more to their woes was a concussion that was suffered by their trusted kicker, Masixole “Coyi” Banda who had to be taken out 25 minutes into the game.

In his absence the Bulldogs went on to miss three penalties. But their overall performance was impressive as they crossed the try-line three times.

Dobela said there was light at the end of the tunnel.

“Although we came out of the game as losers, we played one of the best of our games, especially during the second half,” said Dobela.

“The players’ character was much better though compared to our previous game,” he added.

The Bulldogs’ next opponent, WP, remain unbeaten after three games, and they will have to up their performance to gain the confidence of the province’s rugby-loving fans.