FNB Rhodes coach Carlos Katywa is braced for a wounded FNB WSU when the two sides meet for their inter-Eastern Cape clash at BCM Stadium in Mthatha.

Both sides took a beating in their first round of the FNB Varsity Shield with FNB Rhodes going down 26-7 to FNB TUT at home. The Frontier Country side were blitzed by a clinical FNB TUT who scored three tries to the home side’s one.

Katywa lamented their discipline against FNB TUT but believes the lessons learnt will help them with the rest of the season.

“To be honest, it’s not the ideal start to our season but there were a lot of lessons learnt in that game. One being that we should definitely do our planning, especially when it comes to weather conditions.

“I think we need to execute our game plan properly and stick to the basics. We were trying to do too much too early in the season and our discipline let us down quite a lot, with three yellow cards.”

The FNB Rhodes boss urged his side to execute their game plan, which should yield results, while praising FNB Rhodes’ defence and set pieces.

“We defended well on Monday considering we played 30 minutes with 14 men. We defended exceptionally well in our set pieces, didn’t lose a single scrum and we won all our lineouts so I’m every happy with that.”

Katywa believes the best way forward is to work on their strengths and make sure his charges keep their heads up for the next game.

“The way forward is to regroup quickly as possible, and to identify our strengths from our past game and take it from there to reinforce positive thoughts.”

Owethu Mkolo of Rhodes, during the Varsity Shield match between Rhodes and TUT at Rhodes Great Field in Grahamstown, Monday 19 February 2018.
Photo: Supplied
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