Mapoe in Cheetahs’ midfield?

Springbok Sevens star Lionel Mapoe may well become the Cheetahs’ new midfield maestro, following his succesful move from wing to outside centre in a Super 14 pre-season outing at the weekend.

Jan de Koning, rugby365

Cheetahs backline coach Hawies Fourie admitted that he has been toying with the idea of shifting the flyer inwards and it now looks like it may become a more permanent move.

While many pundits will look at the Cheetahs’ narrow 13-9 win over a Mighty Elephants scratch outfit last Saturday as a negative, Fourie was keen to highlight some of the positives.

“Yes, we were well below par, and very disappointing,” he said of the trip to Port Elizabeth, adding that credit must go to the Elephants, who defended very well and competed very well at the breakdown.

The Cheetahs were also caught unawares at the breakdown, where much was made of the new interpretation by referees and how it would affect the breakdown. However, with South Africa’s top referee, Jonathan Kaplan, in charge it appeared that the shift was not as big as was expected and the Cheetahs simply lost a lot of possession at the breakdown through turnovers and just never got going.

However, those are adjustments that can easily be made in the next week or two, before their opening match against the defending champion Bulls on February 12.

It is when he starts talking about some of the backline adjustments they made in the last half-en-hour of the game that the Cheetahs mentor really gets excited.

“The [backline] guys really struggled, because we were under so much pressure at the breakdown,” Fourie told rugby365.com.

“The result was that Sarel Pretorius struggled [at scrumhalf] and that pressure was shifted onto Tewis de Bruyn [flyhalf],” he said, adding: “”However, in the last half-an-hour we made some changes – with Tewis [de Bruyn] at scrumhalf, Sias Ebersohn at flyhalf and Lionel Mapoe at outside centre.

“In the end that was a lot more productive.

“Sias [Ebersohn] had a very good stint at flyhalf – his options were very good, his attack was good and his tactical kicking very good. I was very pleased with his performance,” Fourie said of the of the former South African age-group player, who only turns 21 next month.

It is Mapoe’s shift to No.13 that could be the big coup of last week’s trip.

“He really played well [at outside centre],” Fourie said, adding: “We have been thinking about moving him to No.13 for some time.

“We were force into the change on Saturday, after Corné Uys suffered a serious cut to his face and it [Mapoe's move] really worked.”

The 21-year-old Mapoe, who was one of the stars in the Sevens Boks’ victorious campaign in the 2008/09 IRB World Series, burst onto the 15-man scene with a series of stunning performances for the Free State Cheetahs in last year’s Currie Cup.

Many critics felt he was one of the most unlucky players not to get a call-up for the Boks’ year-end tour.

The Cheetahs backline coach said they will keep to their plans of giving other players in the squad a run when they face a Cheetahs/Griquas combination in Bloemfontein this coming weekend.

Tewis de Bruyn will start ahead of Sarel Pretorius at scrumhalf, Hennie Daniller will wear the No.15 jersey and Riaan Viljoen will be on the bench, while Danwel Demas will start on the left wing in place of Jongi Nokwe.

The only other change planned is Frans Viljoen at No.8 in place of Ashley Johnson, with the latter not having lift up to the high standards he set in last year’s Currie Cup – which earned him a Springbok call-up on the year-end tour.

“We want to have a good look at the form of all the players before the start of the Super 14,” Fourie said.

He added that the goals for weekend’s second trial game will also revolve around an improvement at the breakdown.

“We definitely to protect our own ball better, but we also need to work on our combinations and structures – while we will look at our attack,” Fourie told rugby365.com, when asked about the final pre-season outing.