The Border Bulldogs get down to business today as they open their Currie Cup First Division campaign with a massive away game against the defending champions Leopards at Profert Olen Park in Potchefstroom.
It is a big match for the Bulldogs who are looking for a good First Division run after a poor Currie Cup qualification campaign and they will face arguably their biggest test against the competition favourites in their backyard.
“In our last few matches against the Leopards we do not feel that we have been particularly outplayed by them and were always in the match, so we should have a similar game on Friday,” said Border Bulldogs coach Elliot Fana.
“I expect it to be a close, hard-fought match and we want to come away with a positive result.”
For Border to have any chance of claiming a win against the Leopards they will need their team to come together as a whole while also look to their star players to put in some big performances.
Border’s two key men in the backline will be flyhalf Masixole Banda and wing Makazole Mapimpi.
Banda has recently made the switch from fullback to flyhalf and his performances there have impressed the coaches enough to warrant him continuing in the role.
Banda was Border’s top points-scorer in the Currie Cup qualifiers with 86 points through four tries, 15 conversions and 12 penalties and his good eye for attack and his goal-kicking will be important if Border are to defeat the Leopards.
Mapimpi will also play a big role as he was Border’s most deadly player in the qualifiers, running in 13 tries during the competition, second only on the leading try-scorers list to Griffons fullback Selvyn Davids.
In the forwards Border’s key players will be captain and flank Siya Mdaka and prop Blake Kyd.
Mdaka will be looking to rally the troops, backed up well by Kyd, who has stepped into the breach as captain whenever Mdaka has been unavailable this season.
The team as a whole will, however, look to start the First Division in a similar vein to their qualifying campaign where they started with three wins on the trot and were full of confidence.
If they can get that right they may be able to give the competition a good go this time around.
“Over the past few years we have not done very well in the First Division, usually finishing last or second last,” admitted Fana.
“So our ultimate goal is to win the competition one day, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, so our goal this season is to improve on our previous showings and try and qualify for the playoffs this year.”
The match kicks off at 5pm this afternoon.
Bulldogs hunt Leopards in their lair
It is a big match for the Bulldogs who are looking for a good First Division run after a poor Currie Cup qualification campaign and they will face arguably their biggest test against the competition favourites in their backyard.
“In our last few matches against the Leopards we do not feel that we have been particularly outplayed by them and were always in the match, so we should have a similar game on Friday,” said Border Bulldogs coach Elliot Fana.
“I expect it to be a close, hard-fought match and we want to come away with a positive result.”
For Border to have any chance of claiming a win against the Leopards they will need their team to come together as a whole while also look to their star players to put in some big performances.
Border’s two key men in the backline will be flyhalf Masixole Banda and wing Makazole Mapimpi.
Banda has recently made the switch from fullback to flyhalf and his performances there have impressed the coaches enough to warrant him continuing in the role.
Banda was Border’s top points-scorer in the Currie Cup qualifiers with 86 points through four tries, 15 conversions and 12 penalties and his good eye for attack and his goal-kicking will be important if Border are to defeat the Leopards.
Mapimpi will also play a big role as he was Border’s most deadly player in the qualifiers, running in 13 tries during the competition, second only on the leading try-scorers list to Griffons fullback Selvyn Davids.
In the forwards Border’s key players will be captain and flank Siya Mdaka and prop Blake Kyd.
Mdaka will be looking to rally the troops, backed up well by Kyd, who has stepped into the breach as captain whenever Mdaka has been unavailable this season.
The team as a whole will, however, look to start the First Division in a similar vein to their qualifying campaign where they started with three wins on the trot and were full of confidence.
If they can get that right they may be able to give the competition a good go this time around.
“Over the past few years we have not done very well in the First Division, usually finishing last or second last,” admitted Fana.
“So our ultimate goal is to win the competition one day, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, so our goal this season is to improve on our previous showings and try and qualify for the playoffs this year.”
The match kicks off at 5pm this afternoon.
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