Kruisfontein United are not intimidated by EL Police's aura of invincibility and believe they can beat them in Saturday's EC Super 14 club rugby final, coach Frank Domingo says.
The clash is a rematch of the 2023 final when Police beat Kruisfontein in a thrilling contest at the Sports Complex in Humansdorp,
Both teams boast unbeaten records going into the final and bone-jarring encounter is expected at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane.
Kruisfontein have an added incentive to win because they are looking to bury the painful memories of losing the Super 14 final to Police and the EPRU Grand final against Gardens in 2023.
“No team is unbeatable,” Domingo said.
“If we do not believe Police are beatable then we might as well stay away from the final.
“I am really excited about meeting Police again after we just fell short in last year's final.
“Losing two finals in 2023 was not a nice feeling, but we have put that behind us.
'Kruisfontein make sure we put everything in place this time around and we are ready to face whatever comes our way and be successful.
“We will not change much from our normal preparations going into the final.
“So we know what we want from this final and there is lots of motivation to succeed.
“Kruisfointein will put a lot of emphasis on shortcomings we identified in our last two knockout games against Progress and Young Leopards.
“Our players gained valuable experience by playing two finals last year about the way we have to approach finals
“Before last season, Kruisfontein never played top league finals and I believe we lacked mental toughness.
“This his time around we are much better off.
“The attitude in the semifinal against Leopards was to leave everything out on the field.
“Overall I was happy with our semifinal showing against Young Leopards.
“Kruisfontein did not know much about them, but we knew if we focus on our strengths and stick to our game plan we will enforce it on them and get the result.”
Police laid down the law when they marched into the final with a runaway 37-11 win over outsiders Despatch Oostelikes.
Il was never going to be an easy assignment for underdogs Oostelikes, who had shown in previous games they could win on the road.
A dominant Police side enjoyed a 24-11 lead at halftime and seldom looked in danger of slumping to their first defeat in the competition.
Oostelikes went into the game with an unbeaten record after impressive wins over former champions Progress, Trying Stars, Hankey Villagers and EPRU Grand Challenge champions Gardens.
The confidence gained from their Super 14 campaign will give Oostelikes a major shot in the arm when the EPRU Grand Challenge competition kicks off next month.
Like Oostelikes, Leopards were the underdogs in their semifinal against Kruisfontein and they had been determined to make their community proud with a fighting display.
Though Leopards could not pull off a shock win, they made the community of Ducats township proud.
Trailing 15-3 at the break, Leopards never gave up the fight and were rewarded for their endeavours with a late try.
List of previous Super 14 winners: 2009 (Gardens, EP), 2010 World Cup break, 2011 Police (EP), 2012 (Despatch (EP), 2013 Harlequins (EP), 2014 (Gardens (EP), 2015 EL Police (Border), 2016 Gardens (EP), 2017 Gardens (EP), 2018 Swallows (Border), 2019 EL Police (Border), 2020 (no tournament), 2021 Progress (EP), 2022 Progress (EP), 2023 EL Police (Border).
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