'Afrikaanse treffers' help psych up WP
Has someone at Western Province rugby headquarters gone stark raving mad?
It was definitely not a case of Newlands residents' ears deceiving them on Tuesday when their afternoon was interrupted by Steve Hofmeyr's Die Blou Bul, Dozi's Ryperd and Gé Korsten's Liefling.
If rugby songs have to be played at Newlands one would at least expect Leon Schuster to offer Province the comfort that the Currie Cup will come again, but DJ Kobus van der Merwe brought out his own Afrikaanse treffers (Afrikaans hits) with a view to Saturday's semifinal clash in Pretoria.
"We are conditioning the players for what they will encounter at Loftus," he explained to journalists in the brief time slot that they were allowed in.
"I want the players to get used to the noise levels.
"We are expecting a very noisy stadium on Saturday. The idea is to put them under pressure to make the right decisions in the kind of conditions that they will experience there," added Van der Merwe.
Stadium noise is often offered as an excuse when lineout calls are misinterpreted and Tuesday's drill by Van der Merwe would have ensured that, if WP hooker Tiaan Liebenberg is distracted with his throwing, it will be by one of the Bulls' scantily clad cheerleaders and not Hofmeyr.