Boan Venter is determined to push Pierre Schoeman hard for more game-time at loose-head prop for Edinburgh. Image: © Craig Watson –
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WITH the league on hold for a week, Edinburgh’s players are parking the pressure and insist they can show their true colours by winning their European Challenge Cup semi-final against Bath.
The English Premiership leaders, who have a considerable Scottish contingent, may be looking dominant in their domestic competition, but few clubs know better than Edinburgh that cup rugby is different and league form is irrelevant.
For Edinburgh’s try-scoring prop Boan Venter, the important lesson from their last match is to find the form they discovered in the final 30 minutes of their draw in Parma – and start that way when faced with knockout rugby.
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“Hopefully, we can take our learnings and carry them into next week and the semi against Bath,” he said. “We’ll try to rectify what we did [in the opening 50 minutes] and get as close to a complete game as we can.
“It’s an important match. It’s a proud moment for us playing in the semi-finals. We were gutted after the Zebre draw, but we’ve got two days over the weekend to lick our wounds and then turn a new page on Monday.
“We’ll start the new prep and get the right foot forward. We’re hungry for a win and a good performance.”
After all, few clubs have as much of a track record of putting their league form to one side and producing in Europe. For example, in 2012, when they reached the Champions Cup semis, they were 11th out of 12 in the league. In 2015, when they reached the Challenge Cup final, they finished 8th from 12. It can be done – and Edinburgh have proved that.
The key, Venter says, is starting with the kind of intent and flair that produced the 81st-minute try they scored in Italy to draw the game. “That’s definitely the focus – and then not to let the foot off the gas. If we can start like that and keep the performance up for 80 minutes at least, then we can definitely do the job,” he said.
After all, Venter pointed out, Edinburgh have gone toe-to-toe with some of the most physically robust teams in the URC and more than held their ground.
“Bath are going to take us on up front and we welcome that challenge with open arms. In the last three games, when we played the South African teams, we were definitely on a par with them – if not better,” he reasoned.
“I know the guys we played and we definitely fronted up physically. So if they [Bath] want to bring it on, we’ll definitely match it – and then put a bit on top of that.”
The irony for him is that despite a 70-minute performance that brought him two tries – both a combination of quick thinking as the ball went loose and brute force to batter through the final defenders – there is no guarantee Venter will start at the weekend, with Pierre Schoeman coming back into contention.
Still, he does offer something extra, not just as part of a scrum that was dominant for long periods against Zebre but also able to contribute in the open, as his scores showed.
“It’s always nice to score, but it’s still disappointing if it’s in a game like that one. We would have loved to get the result for us and for the fans, so it’s not ideal,” he admitted. “[Contributing in the open] is definitely something I feel I bring to the party. My aim is to do that every game – to just work hard around the park so that, hopefully, those opportunities come.”
The start is key. For whatever reason, the first 50 minutes against Zebre at the weekend were substandard, but he could also find encouragement in the way they recovered and salvaged at least a draw from 19-6 down.
“On a positive point, the boys showed great fight right up to that 80th minute, and you’ve got to give credit to Cammy Scott for landing that last kick. That’s why it’s so disappointing. The vibe in the squad at the moment is that we strive to be our best every week. That’s why we’re so bitterly disappointed when we don’t hit the mark. That speaks a lot for the character we have at the moment,” he added.
“Obviously, the league will still be at the back of our heads. There are two big weekends for our campaign, but for now, the focus is only on the semi-final. We’re going week by week and game by game.”
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