A focused EP Elephants side will not rest on their laurels after they clinched a thrilling 29-26 win over the SWD Eagles in their opening match of the SA U21 Shield rugby competition in Gqeberha last week, coach Shaun “Trok” Oliver said.
EP have been hard at work in training this week ahead of a showdown against the Boland Kavaliers at Boland Park in Wellington on Saturday (kickoff 2pm).
Two aspects Oliver and his assistant coaches Zane Bosch (forwards) and Athi Mayinje (backline) have been focusing on are improving sloppy play and wayward discipline.
EP’s try scorers against the Eagles were Cole Hilpert, Angelo Adams, Xander Wiltshire, Sean van Zijl and Luwando Gotyana.
EP will be facing a Boland outfit who will have their tails up after toppling champions the Border Bulldogs 47-34 in their opening outing at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane near KuGompo City on Saturday.
Oliver bemoaned a slow start against the Eagles at Otto du Plessis last week, and wants his charges to be more switched on from the kickoff.
That slow start left EP trailing 19-15 at the break and the Elephants were forced to mount a second-half fightback to claim the points on offer in the opening round.
“EP started slowly, and some sloppy play enabled the Eagles to get off to a fast start,” Oliver said.
“We responded well in the second half, and we were the first to put points on the board.
“Unfortunately, some ill-discipline stopped our momentum.
“EP finished strongly to ensure we finished with a bonus-point win.
“Our focus now is to look back at our mistakes and rectify them before an away game against Boland in Worcester on Saturday.
“Our set piece is a department where we will strive to get it right from the start and to execute our game plan from there.
“We will set high standards for ourselves and home games are not negotiable.
“This EP team believe we can go all the way to the knockout stage in the Shield competition.”
Nine provincial teams have been divided into two sections in the Shield.
The south comprises Boland (2024 champions), Border, Eastern Province and SWD; and the north, featuring the Pumas (2023 champions), Harmony Griffons, Griquas, Valke and Limpopo.
Teams in the south section play three home and three away matches (six in total) and in the north a single round (four in total).
At the conclusion of the league phase, the two teams with the highest number of log points will contest the semi-finals within their sections.
The two winners will play in the grand final between the south and north groups.
Saturday’s fixtures:
South Section: Boland Kavaliers v EP Elephants, SWD Eagles v Border Bulldogs.
North Section: Valke v Pumas, Griffons v Limpopo.
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