DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee pulled no punches in the assessment of his team’s 23-25 Absa Currie Cup loss to the Sharks at DHL Newlands on Saturday night.

Despite the tricky conditions on offer in Cape Town, Coetzee refused to blame the elements for his team’s loss – in their opening game of the 2012 Absa Currie Cup.

“We lost the game… it’s disappointing to lose a home game,” said Coetzee afterwards.

“Yes, we had a lot of new players in the side, but the amount of basic errors, which resulted in soft tries, is unforgivable at any level – no matter who is or isn’t playing.

“If Joe’s [Pietersen] kick had gone over at the end, I wouldn’t have felt any different – as tonight was a comedy of errors at times.”

DHL WP led 13-3 at halftime, but then trailed the Sharks by 16-22 going into the final ten minutes of the game – after conceding three tries between the 41st and 55th minutes of the second half.

But a 70th-minute try, from a rolling maul by captain Deon Fourie – which was converted by Joe Pietersen, saw the home side take a 23-22 lead before a drop-goal from Riaan Viljoen saw the visitors edge into a 25-23 lead with just over five minutes remaining.

“We need to pick up the pieces and get the confidence back,” said Coetzee.

“The positive is we dominated first-phase possession against the Sharks – our scrums, line-outs and mauls were good – it’s not often you can say that against a Sharks team and we camped in their 22 for much of the game… Those are positives, yes, but we lost the game and need to execute better.

“The players understand that it wasn’t good enough and we will be working hard to get it right,” said the DHL WP coach.

Looking ahead to next week, which will see DHL WP travel to Kimberley to take on the GWK Griquas, coach Coetzee is hoping to have star No 8 Duane Vermeulen back in the selection mix.

Vermeulen has been missing since April with a knee injury but Coetzee said: “Duane’s a real possibility of being right for next week. We will know more this week.”

Flanker Rynhardt Elstadt will be assessed on Monday – after missing the Sharks game with a groin injury – and prop Steven Kitshoff (knee) will also be reviewed after prop Deon Carstens took a knock to his nose against the Sharks.

Flyhalf Burton Francis limped off in the 65th minute with a calf injury but, according to his coach, he would also be assessed on Monday.