Border Bulldogs will have to improve line-outs and defence against driving mauls if they are to repeat last season’s heroics.
These aspects of the Bulldogs’ defensive play were exposed in their 54-36 friendly victory over the South Western District Eagles on Friday at the Buffalo City Stadium.
While the Bulldogs were good with ball in hand, it was their defence that was questionable, especially against driving mauls.
The Eagles noticed this early in the game and took every chance of punting the ball to touch – scoring three tries from the resultant line-outs which they turned into successful mauls.
Granted this was only the Bulldogs’ second friendly before they start competitive rugby against Boland on April 23 at Zwide Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The fitness levels are still below where they should be.
The home side was also good in securing the ball on the ground and had minimal handling errors.
When with ball in hand the Bulldogs backs were marvellous to watch as they easily found gaps in the Eagles team.
The coaching team will also be pleased with the seven beautiful team tries that the Bulldogs scored on the night.
But interim Bulldogs head coach David Dobela was not a pleased man after the game.
“The boys played well but I’m still worried. I’m disappointed about those three tries from the maul. I think we need to go back to the drawing board and secondly, I think we also need to work a little bit more on our scrums,” Dobela said.
The Bulldogs surprised many when they did not contest any line-outs. Was there a specific reason behind this?
“I don’t know…let me tell you honestly, I don’t know because we did everything on contesting,” Dobela said, adding that the team was missing lock JC van Rensburg who is good in contesting and winning line-outs.
But the coach was happy with how the team generally played, singling out the backs.
“The backs were superb today, absolutely superb,” he said.
Eagles coach AB Davids was disappointed with his charges.
“It’s still early in the season but I think by now there must be a structure and I think our guys played out of the structure and made it easy for Border.
“I’m not happy about what my guys did on the field. They can do much better than this,” he said.
Davids will be hoping that by April 23 when they play their first SuperSport Rugby Challenge against EP Kings, his side would have rectified their mistakes.
Bulldogs lack defensive drive
These aspects of the Bulldogs’ defensive play were exposed in their 54-36 friendly victory over the South Western District Eagles on Friday at the Buffalo City Stadium.
While the Bulldogs were good with ball in hand, it was their defence that was questionable, especially against driving mauls.
The Eagles noticed this early in the game and took every chance of punting the ball to touch – scoring three tries from the resultant line-outs which they turned into successful mauls.
Granted this was only the Bulldogs’ second friendly before they start competitive rugby against Boland on April 23 at Zwide Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The fitness levels are still below where they should be.
The home side was also good in securing the ball on the ground and had minimal handling errors.
When with ball in hand the Bulldogs backs were marvellous to watch as they easily found gaps in the Eagles team.
The coaching team will also be pleased with the seven beautiful team tries that the Bulldogs scored on the night.
But interim Bulldogs head coach David Dobela was not a pleased man after the game.
“The boys played well but I’m still worried. I’m disappointed about those three tries from the maul. I think we need to go back to the drawing board and secondly, I think we also need to work a little bit more on our scrums,” Dobela said.
The Bulldogs surprised many when they did not contest any line-outs. Was there a specific reason behind this?
“I don’t know…let me tell you honestly, I don’t know because we did everything on contesting,” Dobela said, adding that the team was missing lock JC van Rensburg who is good in contesting and winning line-outs.
But the coach was happy with how the team generally played, singling out the backs.
“The backs were superb today, absolutely superb,” he said.
Eagles coach AB Davids was disappointed with his charges.
“It’s still early in the season but I think by now there must be a structure and I think our guys played out of the structure and made it easy for Border.
“I’m not happy about what my guys did on the field. They can do much better than this,” he said.
Davids will be hoping that by April 23 when they play their first SuperSport Rugby Challenge against EP Kings, his side would have rectified their mistakes.
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