Pressure, what's that?

Whenever a big game like the SuperSport Rugby Challenge final rolls around, the opposition coaches tend to jostle for the underdog tag and look to spread rumours on who’s really under pressure going into said big match.

Jimmy Stonehouse, the head coach of the defending champion Pumas, is nobody’s idea of an underdog, while Brent Janse van Rensburg – his Tafel Lager Griquas counterpart – doesn’t exactly have to cower in the corner, having won last year’s title as the Pumas coach.

But one thing they can’t quibble with is that there most certainly be a bit of pressure about, the question being who has more than their fair share of it of these two teams meeting to contest the championship for the second year running.

On the face of it the Pumas have the least weight on their shoulders, having already won the thing a year ago against a Griquas team that has made all three finals in the young history of the Rugby Challenge without winning any of them.

But having won all eight of the games they’ve played this year in reaching the final to go with winning last year’s title unbeaten, the Pumas might feel filthy if they give that magnificent record away by losing the one that matters.

“I said it to the guys we might have got 35 points from seven games and finished top of the log, but now it’s do or die,” said Stonehouse, who was director of rugby in last year’s competition. “It’s going to be a tough game coming up against Griquas for the second year in a row because they’re a brilliant side.

“If we want to put the pressure on ourselves we’ve got to go out there and win it. If we don’t win it and aren’t good enough on the day then it is what it is. I don’t know if playing them and beating them during the round robin stages makes us favourites, but it does give us belief that we can win.

“That’s one of the big things working for us at the moment, the guys really have the trust to slow things down and make the quicker because they have the composure to do it. I think the guys believe they can win it, but it’s another thing to go out and do it.”

Janse van Rensburg is in the strange position of defending a trophy he won with the opposition, his current team being on pins and needles for having been the bridesmaids in both the finals they’ve played, losing to a last-minute drop-goal last year.

“I don’t think there is pressure, I wasn’t part of the previous finals ... it’s a new coaching staff, there’s a lot of new players. I think pressure is something you put on yourself, really, if you worry about the outcome or the occasion you can get frozen and then you’re going to lose the plot.

“It’s still the game of rugby, there are 80 minutes before us – maybe 84 if there’s extra time – we just have to make sure we prepare well, train well, focus on the process, put in a good collective effort and be tactically astute. Then the outcome will work itself out, but there’s no pressure on us.”

Janse van Rensburg also reflected on the oddity of being in a position to take away the trophy he won with the Pumas last year: “It’ll be interesting. The Pumas have a game plan they stick to, they’re pretty direct, use the forwards a lot to maul and try to bully you, and they’ve got an effective kicking game.

“We know what to expect. We have to front up physically but on the day we have to arrive and execute. You can have all the talent in the world but on the day you need to put it together and live in the moment and execute your plan well enough to beat the other team.”