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Coetzee: ‘The show must go on’

PUBLISHED: October 15, 2012


It is never great losing two Test Springboks in the week of a big Absa Currie Cup semifinal, but DHL WP coach Allister Coetzee believes his side has the necessary depth to cope without their two senior stars.

Hooker Tiaan Liebenberg (back) and lock Andries Bekker (right toe) were on Monday both ruled out of this coming Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup semifinal clash against the MTN Golden Lions (19h00).

Both players had returned to Cape Town just last week – after a few weeks on the road with the Springboks – but Coetzee remained upbeat that the Men in Blue & White hoops could progress in spite of their loss.

Said Coetzee: “It’s always a blow to lose players, especially after a performance like Saturday’s, but as we experienced in Super Rugby the job must go on.

“It’s unforeseen and not ideal especially when you’re preparing for a Currie Cup semifinal… but we’d rather focus on who we have (available) and make sure those players execute our plan accordingly come Saturday.”

When asked about the temptation to perhaps move Deon Fourie back to the front row – in the absence of Liebenberg – the coach pointed to the excellent form of rookie hooker Scarra Ntubeni this season, the youngster having picked up two Absa Currie Cup Man of the Match Awards in 2012.

Also, at the same time a player like De Kock Steenkamp (lock) could easily slot back into the team, having done a great job as a replacement for Bekker just before half-time last Saturday.

“Deon has been playing excellently at openside and Scarra, in the games that he has played, has also done really well,” said Coetzee. “Both players bring a work-rate to the team, so it’s good to have them both on the park – after all, that work-rate is what you’ll need against this very good Lions team.

“Fortunately De Kock Steenkamp and Scarra Ntubeni aren’t strangers to our systems,” added the coach. “They’ve always played well when given a chance and now they have a chance to start again.”

Coetzee was, as one would expect, happy with WP’s 36-15 win over the Toyota Free State Cheetahs last week but he still sees plenty room for improvement come next weekend as they travel to the home of the defending champions.

“We’ll have to play better than we played against the Cheetahs,” he admitted.

“The players did a review of the Cheetahs game and we saw that we could improve in some areas, especially when it comes to decision-making as there were a few situations when we did not capitalise fully.

“You need to take those opportunities in play-off matches – that’s important, as is your discipline. Our discipline against the Cheetahs was outstanding, we conceded seven penalties only, which is very good – if you remember correctly, we conceded seven kickable ones the last time we played the Lions in Johannesburg.

“We’ll also be looking at ways to counter the Lions’ ability to contest line-outs with great success,” added Coetzee, “they are the champions and this week a few players who did not play against the Bulls are returning from injury and they’ll be even stronger come this Saturday.”

Meanwhile, the DHL WP boss explained his thinking behind having veteran scrumhalf Bolla Conradie at training on Monday – the popular 18-Test Springbok having attracted plenty of media attention at the HPC.

“Our Under-21s are involved in the business-end of their tournament and a guy like Bolla – whose season has come to an end with Boland – understands our systems and the culture here at Western Province,” revealed Coetzee.

“We’re just making sure that we’re covered in all positions, especially when it comes to having the proper numbers at training, should anything happen to Louis (Schreuder) or Nic (Groom).

“I’m not 100% sure about the (tournament) regulations should we need him to play (in the event of an injury, etc), but he’s mainly here just to help out at training and he was able to join us on short notice.

“Like I said, I don’t want to disrupt the Under-21s ahead of their semifinal this weekend, so Bolla will train with us regardless if he does or can play (for us). Louis and Nic are both fit, it’s just about having three scrumhalves available at training in what is a specialist position.”