WP Boks back but Pumas confident

Western Province are not hiding behind their Currie Cup champions tag. They realise what needs to be done at Newlands on Saturday to continue their unbeaten run in this year's competition.

Against the high-riding Mpumalanga Pumas it will not be that easy.

The Pumas have won four Currie Cup games so far, courtesy of a belief in their ability to compete at this level. Not bad for a group of Blue Bulls and Free State rejects.

But for their opponents it has not been an ideal week in terms of preparation.

"It was disrupting with the Springboks arriving here only on Monday. We didn't have as many training sessions as we would have liked... we crammed in a lot of things into a short space of time," said WP coach Gert Smal.

"But we'd like to think we concentrated on the right things."

Like working on a plan to bring their backs into the game. There's no point in having explosive runners and not using them. That is why WP won't deviate much from their running game, unless things go horribly wrong.

In Chris Rossouw they have a flyhalf who can bring his backline into play.

But that is also the channel WP expect the Pumas to attack.

"I reckon they will use Franco (Smith) for that. But our loose forwards will just have to be aware of that," Smal added.

And the WP backrow is capable of doing just that. Bobby Skinstad is in the No 8 blue-and-white hoops for the first time in two years, with Hendrik Gerber and natural-born leader Corne Krige on the flanks.

Skinstad last played for WP in 1999 when he made his comeback after a car accident earlier in that year.

Krige and Gerber are a dynamic duo. The prospect of seeing them in full cry is worth getting excited about.

For Krige it's a starting chance he's been waiting for.

He was tipped to start in the Springboks' backrow against the All Blacks at Newlands but a thigh injury ruled him out. Since then it's gone downhill.

"Great!" exclaimed the WP captain about his inclusion.

"But I know it will be tough. We are a side made up of brilliant individuals but the key for us would be to get together as a team. If we want to win the cup again that's what we will have to do," Krige said.

Brenden Nel reports from Pretoria that the Pumas' resurgence has not surprised their union.

They have mixed experience - Smith and Jacques Olivier, both Super 12 players, forwards Derick Grobbelaar and Jaco Coetzee - with youth in 19-year-old flyhalf Nel Fourie.

So what's made them successful so far?

"There are a lot of coaches who say they have a three-year plan and are building for the future. Here we have to win. We don't have time to build, we need to win now. A lot of coaches hide behind that excuse, rather than getting guys who will go and win the game now," said the union's chief executive officer Chris Buitendach.

Grobbelaar's resurgence as a lock has been a blessing for the side.

"The point we wanted to show is that there still is some rugby left in us," Grobbelaar said. "We have showed that the South African mentality that players are over the hill is rubbish. One player might peak at 25 and another at 35."