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Coetzee: ‘We’ll take away win’

PUBLISHED: August 25, 2013


It was not pretty, but DHL WP coach Allister Coetzee was pleased with his team’s ability to win ugly – as they finished the latest weekend of Absa Currie Cup action as the only remaining unbeaten side.

DHL WP beat a committed GWK Griquas team by 20-19 in Kimberley, Province scoring two tries to one and earning a second win of the season to go with their opening-day draw against the Vodacom Blue Bulls.

WP's tries were scored by captain Deon Fourie and Springbok centre Juan de Jongh – that after an earlier effort from starlet Cheslin Kolbe had been cancelled out by the referee after an alleged infringement by the selfsame De Jongh.

“It's never easy in Kimberley,” Coetzee told www.wprugby.com on Sunday morning, “but we'll take the win – especially on the road.

“We didn't respect the ball at all yesterday, making silly errors when we had the ball. Our set-piece did not fire either, but whenever we had the ball we put them under pressure in conditions well-suited to ball-in-hand rugby.

“Last year this time we managed to come away with four points too, but that was our first win after two rounds (only). So, yes, we're happy with our position at present – (but) mainly because we know we can play a lot better.”

WP spent most of last week training in cold and wet weather in Cape Town and whilst Coetzee did not want to blame the dramatic change in conditions, he did admit that his team's legs “might have gone a bit early” in Kimberley's rarefied atmosphere.

“The conditions were good to play with the ball in hand, that's why our performance was so disappointing.

“I guess winning ugly is not a bad thing,” added the WP coach. “You build momentum by winning, but we know that we have a lot of work ahead of us – especially with the Golden Lions, who were very impressive against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria, next up.”

As an added bonus, Coetzee had no serious injuries to report after Saturday, despite a physical contest on a notoriously hard surface at GWK Park, and the coach was looking forward to their next fixture against the MTN Golden Lions – also away from home – this coming Friday.

Coetzee concluded: “A six-day turnaround is always tough, but we're used it from the Super Rugby competition.

“We've got two busy training days ahead of us (on Monday and Tuesday), we need to get the negatives out of the way first and then concentrate on all the positives (in our game).”

DHL WP's next Currie Cup fixture – against the Lions at Ellis Park on Friday, August 30 – kicks-off at 19h10.

* CLICK HERE for a photo gallery from yesterday!