EP must improve discipline against Cheetahs

EP’s Elephants must address their lack of discipline if they want to snap a two-game losing streak when they face the Cheetahs in a SA Cup clash in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

After losing three players to cards (two yellow and one red) when they were beaten by SWD Eagles last week, EP head coach Dumisani Mhani will demand improvement.

Mhani was frustrated after EP slipped to a 24-23 defeat in the final moments of an ill-tempered clash against the Eagles at the Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele. 

“We keep drumming it into the players about cards and penalties, which are very costly and they will bring any team down,” he said.

“But it feels like the guys are not listening at times.

“To me, the card to Duncan du Buisson could have been a yellow because the player he was tackling slipped.

“We will go through the incident when we have our review on the laws of the game.

“At the end of the day we cannot be crying over spilt milk.

“The cards did us lot [of harm] plus the injuries we incurred during the game.

“There were too many unnecessary penalties and we did not want to play clever.

“Our team decision making was also bad.

“We are going to Bloemfontein to play the Cheetahs on Saturday and that will be another tough game.

“Having to pick up the team after a late defeat is part of the trade.

“EP can’t just give up and we have to keep soldiering on.

“We cannot do otherwise and that is our job.

“So we must pick up the guys now .

“My take is always that a player knows when he has done something wrong.”

After the completion of the third round, Griquas, the Pumas and Griffons are the only teams who can boast unbeaten records.

The Griffons outplayed the Leopards 42-10 in Welkom on Sunday afternoon in the last fixture of the round.

The Boland Cavaliers registered their first win of the campaign when they defeated the Falcons 29-13 and Griquas flyhalf and skipper George Whitehead scored 49 points when his team overpowered Border 119-5 in Kimberley.

In the opening game of the round, the Pumas got the action under way with a comprehensive 50-0 victory over a young Cheetahs side in Bloemfontein.

Pumas hooker Llewellyn Classen, right wing Stefan Coetzee and replacement hooker Darnell Osuagwu each dotted down twice as the visitors from Mpumalanga ran in seven tries without reply against the Cheetahs.

Flyhalf Clinton Swart had a good day with the boot, converting six of his team’s tries.

With the bulk of their senior squad in action in the EPCR Challenge Cup round of 16 clash in France, the young Cheetahs side couldn’t cope with the brute power of the visitors, who showed no signs of slowing down in the second half despite their 24-0 halftime advantage.

Their third win in a row enabled Griquas to stretch their tally to 15 league points, the same number as the Pumas and Griffons.

However, the men from Kimberley have a far superior points difference, which has seen them retain top spot on the log.

The Eagles’ win over EP increased their total to 10 points, the same number as the Toyota Cheetahs.

Thanks to their first victory, the Cavaliers moved to seven points, which is one more than EP and five better than the Falcons.

Border and Leopards complete the standings, with both still searching for their first league points.

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