Gunners start title defence

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent | Friday March 19, 2010 00:00

Kick-off is 3.30pm and entrance is free. Whales is an army side from Thebephatshwa. Gunners' coach, Neal Gouws said their preparations have gone well although his players' fitness levels are low.

'We started training late. We were supposed to start training in January but we started in March. This is our first league fixture and my players know what is expected from them. I told them that they must work hard to win this game. It is going to be a tough encounter for us because we want to retain the league trophy,' he said. Gouws added that Whales are a closed book as they are new in the league. He said Gunners has acquired new players to strengthen the team.

Gouws is the first coach north of Dibete to win the league title. He said two South African players will train with his team and share their expertise. He stated that Gunners will travel to South Africa in the near future to play some professional teams to get exposure and new techniques. 'The main problem in Selebi-Phikwe is lack of depth. We don't have enough people who are interested in rugby,' he said. 

Despite the challenge, Gouws said there are some students he is grooming and he hopes they will come good in the near future.  He urged supporters to attend tomorrow's game at Makhubu in large numbers. He said Gunners put Selebi-Phikwe on the map by being the first team from the north to win the BRU league after they beat 2007 champions, Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Cheetahs 16-12 last year.