Rugby
Wentzel leads the scoring after three rounds─── MORGAN PIEK 09:37 Thu, 25 Jul 2024
“The intensity is much higher, and the physicality is much higher. The guys are much better, so they get into position much quicker and their skill sets are much better. So, you need to raise your game to stay on the same level as them.”
After three rounds, the young Toyota Cheetahs flyhalf, Ethan Wentzel, is the leading points-scorer in the Currie Cup.
The Shimlas Varsity Cup hero made his Currie Cup in round one against the Griffons in Bloemfontein and since then has started in the number ten jersey in all three games thus far. To date, the young pivot has scored 39 points in the Currie Cup to lead the scoring charts.
Wentzel told OFM Sport that the level of his teammates forces him to make a step up in his game. “The intensity is much higher, and the physicality is much higher. The guys are much better, so they get into position much quicker and their skillsets are much better. So, you need to raise your game to stay on the same level as them.”
Wentzel attempting to prevent Jean-Luc du Plessis’s try in win against Western Province. Photo: Morgan Piek
Wentzel who hails from Pretoria added that for him it was a big deal playing at Fortress Loftus, but he prefers playing on a firmer pitch, despite some former flyhalves rating the venue of the first Test against Ireland as the best ground to play on. “My heart was pumping out of my chest before the game,” Wentzel added.
“It’s difficult playing at Loftus for the first time, it was much more physical than I thought it would be and it just put us on the back foot and we couldn’t go forward from there. I don’t agree, there’s a lot of sand in the pitch and as you could, Chris Smith, slipped a lot when he was kicking to poles, but I didn’t enjoy the sand in the grass.”
On Friday at 15:00, the Griffons will host the Cheetahs in Welkom in round four.
