A baptisim of fire is what awaits the Border Bulldogs when they face the unbeaten, pace-setting Griquas at Griqua Park in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs’ superb start to the season was stopped in its tracks this past weekend as they were soundly beaten 28-3 by the Steval Pumas in East London.
“The guys were very disappointed with the loss,” said Border Bulldogs coach Elliot Fana.
“However, one doesn’t lose one game and all of a sudden you are not a good team, so we must not panic. We did not perform to our level best, but we will pick ourselves up and move on now.”
It brought an end to the honeymoon phase after wins over the Lions, Sharks and Kings had fans of the team dreaming of Currie Cup Premier division rugby.
However, those dreams were brought back to earth with a bump by a resurgent Pumas team who, despite losing their opening two matches, have now won two on the trot and look to be getting back to their best.
“Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win, but what matters is how you respond after a loss and we want to come back strong,” admitted Fana.
For the Bulldogs they now face a team that has had the perfect start to the season, winning all four matches to date while also claiming a full house of points in each match to sit pretty on 20 points at the top of the qualification log, six points ahead of Western Province in second, South Western Districts Eagles in third and the Bulldogs in fourth, all on 14 points.
It will thus be a true test of the team’s character and a good indication of how serious their challenge is this year to see how they react to their first loss of the season, against the form team of the competition to date.
“For me this match against the Griquas is a test of character. We started with three wins and now lost our first, so how we grow from this setback will define how we play the rest of the season,” said Fana.
Although they will be playing away this weekend, the Bulldogs can take heart from the fact that they managed to upstage the Griquas in their last outing, when at the start of the qualification tournament last year they triumphed in the opening match 20-13, with that proving to be the Griquas only loss as they won the rest of their games to qualify for the Premier division.
The Bulldogs will be aiming for a similar upset, this time at their fortress in Kimberley to get their campaign back on track.
“We beat the Griquas last season when nobody expected us to, so we want to again prove our worth against the top side in the competition so far,” said Fana.
“But we know we are up against a very strong and skilful side who are playing very well, and we are looking forward to the challenge of the match.”
Bulldogs have it all to do again
The Bulldogs’ superb start to the season was stopped in its tracks this past weekend as they were soundly beaten 28-3 by the Steval Pumas in East London.
“The guys were very disappointed with the loss,” said Border Bulldogs coach Elliot Fana.
“However, one doesn’t lose one game and all of a sudden you are not a good team, so we must not panic. We did not perform to our level best, but we will pick ourselves up and move on now.”
It brought an end to the honeymoon phase after wins over the Lions, Sharks and Kings had fans of the team dreaming of Currie Cup Premier division rugby.
However, those dreams were brought back to earth with a bump by a resurgent Pumas team who, despite losing their opening two matches, have now won two on the trot and look to be getting back to their best.
“Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win, but what matters is how you respond after a loss and we want to come back strong,” admitted Fana.
For the Bulldogs they now face a team that has had the perfect start to the season, winning all four matches to date while also claiming a full house of points in each match to sit pretty on 20 points at the top of the qualification log, six points ahead of Western Province in second, South Western Districts Eagles in third and the Bulldogs in fourth, all on 14 points.
It will thus be a true test of the team’s character and a good indication of how serious their challenge is this year to see how they react to their first loss of the season, against the form team of the competition to date.
“For me this match against the Griquas is a test of character. We started with three wins and now lost our first, so how we grow from this setback will define how we play the rest of the season,” said Fana.
Although they will be playing away this weekend, the Bulldogs can take heart from the fact that they managed to upstage the Griquas in their last outing, when at the start of the qualification tournament last year they triumphed in the opening match 20-13, with that proving to be the Griquas only loss as they won the rest of their games to qualify for the Premier division.
The Bulldogs will be aiming for a similar upset, this time at their fortress in Kimberley to get their campaign back on track.
“We beat the Griquas last season when nobody expected us to, so we want to again prove our worth against the top side in the competition so far,” said Fana.
“But we know we are up against a very strong and skilful side who are playing very well, and we are looking forward to the challenge of the match.”
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