Impala Saracens coach Erick Situma discusses the Impala’s win against Machine
Even though the Impala Saracens have been winning games, one man is not contented.
Erick Situma played for the Club at a time when ‘stream’ meant river. He rubbed shoulders with Africa’s rugby greats when kit was made of double layered cotton. Yes, those Carisbrook things were classy then. Boots were mere functional items bereft of the fashionista flair they portray nowadays. Impala was akin to a Challenger 300 tank. Super agile, fast with a take no prisoners approach, blasting through every team found lying on the line of attack. Having been there and done that, he believes that Impala Saracens should have recorded bigger scores when they met Mean Machine Rfc over the weekend.
Smaller margin win compared to Impala Saracens vs Blak Blad RC. What do you think slowed the boys down?
I believe we lost structure & concentration in the second half. A lot of indiscipline was vivid, we gave away unnecessary penalties and in so doing, allowed Machine into the game. (Machine were quick to score a try after a penalty in our own 5 in the 71st minute. They went ahead to boot over a penalty in the 75th minute.)
What will you be looking at improving when the boys go against Catholic University?
We understand that some of the boots we had on the pitch today were young. These lessons are very important. We shall take every game at a time and reinforce some of the lessons learnt. We could also be looking at varying our playing structure to effectively counter specific opponents. But the notion of respecting every team needs to grow in the players’ minds.
The scrum down looked very impressive today. What is the secret?
We are built that way. We are blessed to have bulky and agile forwards. The scrum down is one area where we work on day in and out. I have also been very clear to my forwards about their scrum down ability. If it suits us, then why not use our forwards to win games?
Any forward who played their heart out in this match?
Tyson Okoth was outstanding in that match. Big tackles, he turned over rucks when the opportunity provided at the breakdown. No wonder officials form SABMiller Castle stout awarded him Man of the Match trophy.
And any influential back?
It is a little difficult to extract the ideal player from 9-15. But I must commend Pius Shiundu’s effort. He has been consistent. His counter attack and fluidity in joining the line of attack is laudable. (Pius Shiundu was also Top Scorer in the Prinsloo Leg of the National 7s Circuit in 2014)