Western Province head coach Labeeb Levy said South African rugby needs to keep the URC fringe players active throughout the season.
“There’s probably a small void in the greater SA Rugby picture in the competitive playing time of players, and collectively we need to come up with a way of how to fill that void."
“If there’s an aligned competition during the year, it will allow the players who get dropped from their URC franchises to fall into another competition and continue playing. Players will then get more game time and by the time the Currie Cup comes around, the teams already have cohesion.”
“If we look at the team we’re playing now, Griquas. They played in the SA Cup tournament, so they would’ve had a pre-season for the SA Cup and a pre-season for the Currie Cup. It’s all about cohesion and we’re trying to find ways to keep the group working together and keep the systems positive.”
Western Province will head into their Currie Cup clash against the Cheetahs on Saturday without captain Zain Davids, who has been sidelined with a knee injury.
Labeeb Levy admitted the captain's absence was felt for the remainder of the game against Griquas.
“We struggled at the breakdown. Zain’s injury was a major setback for us. We had dominated in the early stages of the game, even if it was just for a short while. We didn’t have a fetcher.”
“CJ Velleman is also injured. His foot is broken after someone stepped on it by accident. He would’ve been perfect.”
Levy said their upcoming fixture against the Toyota Cheetahs is going to be another brutal encounter.
“It’ll be tough. They’ve also benefited from continuity and have won their last two matches against a tough Pumas team and a highly motivated Sharks team. They’ll be full of confidence.”