Cheetahs peaking at right time

Johannesburg - Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has shown faith in the men who were on song in last week’s 78-7 drubbing of the Leopards by making no changes to his team ahead of Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup semifinal in Cape Town against Western Province.

Drotské believes his team is starting to hit their straps at the best possible time after a less convincing start to the competition.

"In the first round we struggled to get all facets of our game going for an entire match, so it is very encouraging to see how things have changed and I do feel that we are peaking at the perfect time," he said.

"It is also good to see that nearly every player in the team is in good form."

Apart from the absence of his fast men on the wings and players contracted to Griquas, the core of the Cheetahs squad has played together for most of the season, which has contributed to the squad's spirit.

"Nothing boosts team spirit like winning and having only lost to the Sharks in the second round the mood in our camp is a positive one," said Drotské.

Another reason he is a happy man has to do with the few injury concerns his team has ahead of the play-offs.

"There were a few niggles which prevented some players from training this week, but there are no serious injuries as is the case in some of the other teams," he said.

One of the reasons the Free State squad finished the league stage sporting fewer scars than their opponents has to do with the fact that they took seven players off at halftime in their last match.

While that win also helped build the team 's confidence, its confidence for Saturday’s match lies in its victory over Province earlier this year and the semifinals it won at Newlands in 2004 and 2005.

"Knowing that we have won there before is very important and although very few players in this team were part of the ’04 and ’05 victories, they saw they have what it takes to do it when we were successful there this year," said Drotské.

Regarding threats from within the Province squad, he highlighted the potency of Province coach Allister Coetzee’s men in the backline.

However, Drotské feels that if the Cheetahs are disciplined and accurate at the set pieces, they can walk away with the win.

"With Willem de Waal (flyhalf) there we will have to be disciplined and we will also have to be at our best at the tight facets of the game," he said.

Although victory in semifinals have more to do with the team that is better on the day, the Cheetahs will travel to Cape Town as underdogs.

This tag is one the men from Bloemfontein have become accustomed to wearing.

"I guess it is something we have become used to having and it does take some pressure off the players, but we know we are up against some very talented Springbok players and that they will be ready for us."

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs:
15. Hennie Daniller, 14. Philip Snyman, 13. Robert Ebersohn, 12. Meyer Bosman, 11. Corne Uys, 10. Louis Strydom, 9. Tewis De Bruyn, 8. Ashley Johnson, 7. Juan Smith (captain), 6. Hendro Scholtz, 5. Waltie Vermeulen, 4. Francois Uys, 3. WP Nel, 2. Adriaan Strauss, 1. Coenie Oosthuizen

Replacements: 16. Skipper Badenhorst, 17. CJ van der Linde, 18. Izak vd Westhuizen, 19. Kabamba Floors, 20. Tertius Carse, 21. Sias Ebersohn, 22. Riaan Smit

Western Province:
15. Conrad Jantjes, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean de Villiers, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Willem De Waal, 9. Ricky Januarie, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Schalk Burger (captain), 5. Anton van Zyl , 4. Adriaan Fondse, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. JD Moller

Replacements: 16. Hanyani Shimange, 17. JC Kritzinger, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Pieter Louw, 20. Dewaldt Duvenage, 21. Lionel Cronje, 22. Paul Bosch