Limping UB Rhinos will travel across town where league defending champions, Gaborone Hogs will be waiting at the Hogs ground. On the other side of town, Canon Jaguars will host BDF Cheetahs at the LKC ground.
Rhinos coach, Emmanuel ‘Tiger’ Masinki told Mmegi Sport that while they are looking forward to the game, the challenge is that some players, who are University of Botswana students, are out of Gaborone due to the school break. “We keep in touch with them to make sure that they are active wherever they are. The plan is for them to travel for the match.
Last season we qualified to play against Hogs in the top four, but because of the same predicament, we could not make the game. [On the] Same day we had other players attending a workshop. We wrote to the BRU seeking postponement which was declined,” he said. Masinki said they are going all out to put up a strong fight. He said it is difficult to gauge the players but those who have been available are ready to play. He said they had planned a friendly against Cheetahs but it did not work due to the long weekend.
“We have been pushing our players to make up for those who will be joining us from outside. Players who are absent play in critical positions such as fly half and scrum half. Fortunately, the tight five, which are the front row, props and hooker, and second row (locks) forwards are around and have been putting in the work,” Masinki said.
Sparks are expected to fly between Jaguars and Cheetahs, as the army boys will be looking to revenge after losing during the league encounter. The team that will dictate the tempo of the game will have the best chance to win it. Jaguars’ chairperson, Feddy Mutenheri said they are excited to be part of the semi-final. “Having finished in position two during this league is a huge achievement especially playing against established teams such as Hogs, Cheetahs and Rhinos. We are a small team compared to our opponents. Jaguars has been in existence for eight years. The league initially had nine teams, but Great North and Jwaneng pulled out of the race,” he said.
Mutenheri said this season his charges played good rugby and showed resilience despite no one giving them a chance. However, Mutenheri said they did not prepare as much as they wanted for the clash against Cheetahs due to the international break. “Some of our players were part of the national team 7s in Mauritius. There was a long layoff, we did not get enough game time in terms of friendlies and usual training sessions. But we are ready for the Cheetahs’ challenge.
We are hoping that during the semi-final, the best team will win,” he said. BDF spokesperson, Modesto Madzambi said they pulled a win and a loss in two friendly matches.
He said they do not want to repeat the same mistake of losing to Jaguars in the semi-final last season. “We know what to expect, one thing is that our defence is expecting Jaguars to kick the ball into our territory. We also expect them to make quick runs out wide, which we will counter. We have a new coach, Kabo Batsile and Jeremy Babbage have joined our technical bench. Lekgoba Bafana is out of action due to injury,” he said.
