A home semi-final of the Carling Black Label Currie Cup Premier Division would be a dream come true for the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers, but coach Hawies Fourie is not the type of guy who walks around with his head in the clouds.
There is still a job to do for his team that is currently sitting in second position on the Currie Cup log with 16 points after three wins and one loss.
All three of the Kavas’ wins came at home against current log leaders, the Toyota Cheetahs, followed by the Fidelity ADT Lions and Vodacom Bulls.
The side’s only loss so far came against the Suzuki Griquas, where a lack of game management and inaccuracy at scrum time cost Fourie’s team in what was a game that was theirs for the taking after a comfortable halftime lead.
And with their perfect home run in the Currie Cup’s league phase now completed, the Kavas hit the road for three consecutive away games, starting with a trip to Nelspruit, where they come up against the Airlink Pumas in a 5 pm clash on Friday.
The following week, a trip to Pietermaritzburg looms, where it is expected that the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV will use some of their United Rugby Championship (URC) stars for the clash.
Boland will then end their league run with a highly anticipated derby against DHL Western Province at the DHL Stadium on 6 September.
A win in one of these three fixtures should be enough to get the Kavas to the play-offs, but what about qualifying with home-ground advantage?
“I believe in taking things one step at a time,” Fourie says. “Our goal remains to first get to a semi-final and then once we get there, we can start talking about [getting a home semi] in those last weeks.
“We can then look at what the permutations are to get a home semi-final. But, as I said, we must qualify first, and I don’t believe in thinking too far ahead when it comes to these types of things.”
Fourie, however, adds: “If we can get a home semi-final, it would be great and it is something we would love to achieve for our supporters.
“You can’t shy away from the fact that the support that we have had in these three home games has been unbelievable. None of the other teams has had that much support in this season’s Currie Cup. So, if we can get a home game, then I believe they will be able to carry us through to a final.”
The Kavas boss knows his team will have to stay on mission if they want to achieve something great in their first season back in the Currie Cup since 2016. But he says he has already seen signs of togetherness throughout this campaign that make him and his management staff sleep a little bit easier at night.
“The mission of this team is to bring hope to the people of the Boland and show them what can be done, with fewer resources than the other teams,” he explains. If you go and put this team on paper, then not a lot of people would have given us a chance to get to where we are at the moment.
“That forms part of the message we want to send out to everyone; against all odds, you can achieve things. The entire group is working in the same direction, and that is the one thing I have noticed about our team.
“Guys that are not playing, they are on the side of the field, in the change room afterwards, and they are just as glad for the win as the guys out there on the field. That tells you a lot about the culture within a side, and that is what we want to show to the world out there.”