The Sharks must brace themselves for a battle royal when they meet the Border Bulldogs in a Currie Cup encounter at the Buffalo City stadium in East London tomorrow night.
This was Bulldogs’ conditioning coach Denzel van Heerden’s stern warning to the KwaZulu-Natal side.
Fresh from emerging victorious in their bruising clash against the Golden Lions in their season-opener last weekend, Border have their tails up ahead of their confrontation with the Sharks..
“I am extremely proud of one fact – that the Bulldogs are starting to bully teams physically,” Van Heerden said.
“We have had the luxury of playing the Sharks in a friendly match recently and we dominated them physically. We played the Lions last weekend and it was the same modus operandi because our boys carried over the gain-line successfully and when we clean out we clean with intent, so physically we are beginning to dominate.
“In this sport there are two ways of attacking – by penetration through the middle or through the flanks. You need physicality for the former and pace for the latter and we have covered both those areas so we are confident that we can repeat another win on Friday.”
But the question on everyone’s minds is whether Border would have recovered from the huge physical effort against the Lions, and now especially having to face a side that will be playing their first official Currie Cup match in 2016. Van Heerden is confident his charges will be ready for the collisions expected tomorrow night. He said recovery was all about medical management of players – an aspect of the game he believes they have mastered.
This belief is supported by claims that the Bulldogs were the only provincial side not to register any serious injuries last year – a feat Van Heerden believes they will repeat this year.
Part of Border’s recovery programme this week included limiting their training sessions on Tuesday and yesterday to half-days with the traditionally relaxed captain’s run the only drill scheduled for today.
Van Heerden said: “The best form of recovery is to rest but we have been through the entire recovery protocol such as stretching, supplementation and so on and I can confidently say we will be fresh and ready on match day,” he said. “We cannot afford to reach our peak in game one because it going to be a very long season, hence we had a good off-season and pre-season while acknowledging our players’ fitness will improve every match they play.”
This meant that the jury was out as to whether Bulldogs players’s physical conditioning as displayed in these early stages of the season would carry through until the end of the season, Van Heerden said.
Consistency in this regard – including curbing injuries – is what will be paramount for the team, especially since they do not have that big a squad compared to their counterparts.
Even if their intended “physical bullying” of the KwaZulu-Natal side succeeds, they will have to guard against overdoing it, as they desperately will need to show the same vigour in a provincial derby against Eastern Province next weekend, where winning will matter the most with bragging rights at stake.
Border squad: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Sonwabiso Mqalo, 12 Siphosethu Tom, 11 Mike Makase, 10 Oliver Zono, 9 Bangi Kobese, 8 Billy Dutton, 7 Siya Mdaka, 6 Athenkosi Manentsa, 5 Wandile Putuma, 4 Lindo Welemu, 3 Johannes Jonker, 2 Mihlali Mpafi and 1 Blake Kyd
Replacements: 16 Ludwe Booi, 17 Siya Ngande, 18 Hendri Storm, 19 Zukisani Tywaleni, 21 Nkululeko Ndlovu and 22 Logan Basson.
Victory over Lions gives Border team confidence
This was Bulldogs’ conditioning coach Denzel van Heerden’s stern warning to the KwaZulu-Natal side.
Fresh from emerging victorious in their bruising clash against the Golden Lions in their season-opener last weekend, Border have their tails up ahead of their confrontation with the Sharks..
“I am extremely proud of one fact – that the Bulldogs are starting to bully teams physically,” Van Heerden said.
“We have had the luxury of playing the Sharks in a friendly match recently and we dominated them physically. We played the Lions last weekend and it was the same modus operandi because our boys carried over the gain-line successfully and when we clean out we clean with intent, so physically we are beginning to dominate.
“In this sport there are two ways of attacking – by penetration through the middle or through the flanks. You need physicality for the former and pace for the latter and we have covered both those areas so we are confident that we can repeat another win on Friday.”
But the question on everyone’s minds is whether Border would have recovered from the huge physical effort against the Lions, and now especially having to face a side that will be playing their first official Currie Cup match in 2016. Van Heerden is confident his charges will be ready for the collisions expected tomorrow night. He said recovery was all about medical management of players – an aspect of the game he believes they have mastered.
This belief is supported by claims that the Bulldogs were the only provincial side not to register any serious injuries last year – a feat Van Heerden believes they will repeat this year.
Part of Border’s recovery programme this week included limiting their training sessions on Tuesday and yesterday to half-days with the traditionally relaxed captain’s run the only drill scheduled for today.
Van Heerden said: “The best form of recovery is to rest but we have been through the entire recovery protocol such as stretching, supplementation and so on and I can confidently say we will be fresh and ready on match day,” he said. “We cannot afford to reach our peak in game one because it going to be a very long season, hence we had a good off-season and pre-season while acknowledging our players’ fitness will improve every match they play.”
This meant that the jury was out as to whether Bulldogs players’s physical conditioning as displayed in these early stages of the season would carry through until the end of the season, Van Heerden said.
Consistency in this regard – including curbing injuries – is what will be paramount for the team, especially since they do not have that big a squad compared to their counterparts.
Even if their intended “physical bullying” of the KwaZulu-Natal side succeeds, they will have to guard against overdoing it, as they desperately will need to show the same vigour in a provincial derby against Eastern Province next weekend, where winning will matter the most with bragging rights at stake.
Border squad: 15 Masixole Banda, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Sonwabiso Mqalo, 12 Siphosethu Tom, 11 Mike Makase, 10 Oliver Zono, 9 Bangi Kobese, 8 Billy Dutton, 7 Siya Mdaka, 6 Athenkosi Manentsa, 5 Wandile Putuma, 4 Lindo Welemu, 3 Johannes Jonker, 2 Mihlali Mpafi and 1 Blake Kyd
Replacements: 16 Ludwe Booi, 17 Siya Ngande, 18 Hendri Storm, 19 Zukisani Tywaleni, 21 Nkululeko Ndlovu and 22 Logan Basson.
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