Lagunya is going all out for maximum points in the Promotion League of the Western Province Rugby Union competition when they play Northerns in Elsies River on Saturday 3 September.
Both teams played in the City League before they qualified for the Top 9 for a place in Super League C next year and both sides want to register their first win.
In their previous encounter, Lagunya came out trumps and as Mongezi Melane, assistant coach, says they know how and where to beat Northerns.
“Lagunya played four games, we drew one and lost three. This past Saturday Van der Stel-Evergreens trounced us 47-12 at home in the Nyanga Sports Field and we worked on our mistakes to be ready for Saturday. Currently we have a young team and for most of them it is their first time in the first team. Not knowing our opposition in the Promotion League is a new kettle of fish. You don’t know what to expect on game day. Against some teams our lack of weight and ill-discipline cost us our games. But we are ready for Northerns who is lying at the bottom of the log,” he says.
In all of their games thus far, Lagunya lost their momentum at crucial times but the coach knew that the Promotion League was going to be tough.
“The three teams representing the City League in this competition are Atlantis, Lagunya and Northerns and we played each other. The other six teams in the Promotion League are, the Northern League – Blakes, Sir Lowrians and Van der Stel-Evergreens – and Southern League – Hamediehs, Masiphumelele and Violets – and we have to raise our bar to be competitive.
“We have good playmakers in Siyathemba Gibe (flyhalf) and inside-centre Ayanda Tondile, but you cannot build your game plan around two or three players if your pack cannot handle the heat due to a lack of weight. It worked in the league against the teams we played but it is not paying off in the past four games. So this week it was back to the drawing board,” Melane says.
Fixtures for Saturday 3 September:
Noordelikes vs Lagunya (Elsies River)
Violets vs Atlantis (Lansdowne)
Masiphumelele vs Hamediehs (Noordhoek)
Van der Stel-Evergreens vs Sir Lowrians (Stellenbosch)
Blakes has a bye.