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Still plenty of work for Cheetahs to do in Currie Cup, says Pienaar
The Cheetahs are in second place on the log, but they hold a game in hand over the table-topping Bulls.
Ruan Pienaar passes the ball for the Cheetahs during their Currie Cup match against the Sharks. Picture: Gallo Images
Despite picking up their ninth straight win in the competition and sealing a home semifinal with three games to play, Cheetahs captain Ruan Pienaar believes they still have plenty to work on going forward.
The Cheetahs were in devastating form, overpowering the Sharks 44-15 in their most recent match over the past weekend, but they were guilty of not converting a number of chances which could have made the winning margin even bigger.
“I think we can take a lot of positives out of this game. We focused a lot on our attack, which I think hasn’t been up to scratch so far in the Currie Cup,” Pienaar said.
“So I thought we showed a lot of good intent and tried to be more positive with ball in hand and I think we showed that.
“We have to be more clinical when we come into the 22m. I thought we weren’t too accurate with our conversion rate in the 22m.
“So I think there will always be things you still want to work on, but we are satisfied because it is a good Sharks team, so we are happy with the win.”
With the Bulls Currie Cup team surprisingly beating a full-strength Lions side in their match at the weekend, it meant the Cheetahs were in second place on the log, but they held a game in hand on the table toppers.
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They’re also on target for a perfect season, provided they win their last three pool games and go on to win the competition, though Pienaar claimed that was the furthest thing from their minds.
“We are not thinking about that. We still have a lot of tough teams to play and there’s still a long way to go in this Currie Cup,” the skipper said.
“So we will enjoy the win but now move onto the next one, start working again on Monday and hopefully we can put up a good performance again next time around.
“I don’t think we want to look too far ahead. We still have a lot of tough games to go. It’s great the position that we find ourselves in, but we still have to work hard. So there are a lot of positives but a lot of hard work still to go.”
