Black Leopards' caretaker coach, Mr Sello Chokoe, is adamant that his team is still in the race for the league championship, despite their recent poor performance. Chokoe, who took over after the departure of the then head coach, Mr Jairos Tapera, three weeks ago, has been in charge of the team for one match so far.
He gave instructions to the boys for the first time as a caretaker coach in their game against Witbank Spurs at the Puma Rugby Stadium in Emalahleni two weeks ago. Black Leopard were beaten 1-2. The Thohoyandou outfit dropped from the second to the ninth position on the log, following their recent poor performance.
They have 12 points in hand, which they had accumulated from 10 outings. They are separated by a gap of 12 points from the pace setters, Thanda Royal Zulu. During an interview with him, Mr Chokoe reiterated the fact that they would bounce back and move to the top of the log again in a matter of weeks.
When asked as to what could have contributed to the team's unsatisfactory performance in the past weeks, Chokoe stated that the team's performance had never dropped, saying it was only some defensive mistakes which made them give away vital league points unnecessarily. He added that they had been working on their clearing errors in the past two weeks.
He further indicated that the fact that his team had scored in almost all their matches was a clear indication that the team's performance was good, saying it was only the defence that needed attention. Chokoe appealed to the team's fans to come to the stadium in their numbers when Black Leopards host Mbombela United at the Thohoyandou Stadium tomorrow afternoon. The game will start at 15:30.