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Bloemfontein - Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské has called on his team to up their performance on defence when they host the Waratahs in a Super Rugby match in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
While they have been impressive on attack in the last couple of weeks, the Cheetahs have lacked concentration when their opponents have been in control.
They gave away easy tries, resulting in successive defeats against the Stormers and Sharks.
"There were times when we attacked really well last week, but I think the biggest problem was our lapse of concentration on defence," Drotské said.
"Against the Sharks there were two tries which we basically gave away on a platter.
"The main focus this week is to play attacking and defensive rugby for the full 80 minutes."
The Waratahs will test the Cheetahs' defence to their limits.
Last week the visitors came up short by only six points against log leaders the Stormers, who are widely regarded as one of the best defensive units in the competition.
"We need to take a huge step up," said Cheetahs captain Adriaan Strauss.
"We've struggled the last couple of weeks to land that decisive blow.
"We've been looking at our attacking play as well as our defence, and we need to lift our game and hit back hard."
The Cheetahs will have to be at their best if they want to recover their form against the Waratahs, but Strauss was confident the hosts could lift their game and produce some high quality running rugby.
"I've always said it is easy being the captain of the Cheetahs," he said.
"These guys have a lot of character and are still hungry for success even though it hasn't all gone our way in the last couple of games.
"We've lost a lot of games in Bloemfontein, and we definitely want to play with more passion at our home ground."
