Border Women’s rugby coach Nwabisa Ngxatu says they are on the right track to play the final of the Women’s Inter-provincial Competition at home, after they beat Western Province 19-10 at the BCM Stadium in East London over the weekend.
Ngxatu said she was happy they had beaten one of the strongest sides in the competition.
“I think what gave us the recharge is that we realised that Western Province are using players who are young and that's why we decided to field young players as well.
“And this win means a lot to us because the main aim is to play the final at our home ground. So that is why we emphasised the importance of winning this game,” said the coach of her A division team.
Ngxatu said she was equally happy that the team had played by the book.
“You can never play a game of rugby without having a good defence and when you are good at defending, it's easy for you to win games.
“Our defence was on-point. Western Province usually gives problems in the rucks, of which we were winning in that department during this game, but we can always improve. And that was the most important thing for us – we practised our rucks because anyone can attack but not everyone can defend.”
Ngxatu said they were expecting to meet Western Province in the final because their next opponents, the Cheetahs and Sharks, were small fry.
“We are not really counting the Cheetahs as a challenge and that includes the Sharks. So we can’t start relaxing now, we just need to work more on the small mistakes we make.
“And I'm not really satisfied with our fitness levels. We don’t get to practise as a team often enough.
“But Border Rugby really supports us a lot because they make means, maybe twice a week or during the weekend, for the team to meet.”
Border captain Zintle Mpupa said they were delighted with the win but had hoped for more points...