It was a case of mission accomplished for DHL Western Province on Saturday, as they picked up an impressive 41-17 Absa Currie Cup win over the Vodacom Blue Bulls – their second successive bonus-point victory of 2014.
“It’s a good start for us at home – it’s mission accomplished,” DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee told www.wprugby.com at DHL Newlands on Saturday night.
“I think we would’ve taken this result any day of the week, it’s not every day that you score a big win like this over a Bulls team.
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“Overall, I must add that it was a good day for all three our DHL Western Province teams (today), with our Under-19s and Under-21s also picking up wins over the Blue Bulls.
“It was a lovely sunny day, all our teams won and it was great to see all the Blue & White support in the stands (for all our teams) at DHL Newlands.”
Province’s six tries to one win was their second bonus point victory of 2014, the Blue & White hoops having scored four tries in Port Elizabeth in Week One.
The DHL WP boss added: “The key to our back-to-back bonus-point wins has been the way we have learnt to switch from defence to attacking mode.
“In the past, we were not always prepared to exploit turn-over possession, but we are attaining a balance between attack and defence.
“There is a greater awareness of when to kick and when to run with the ball. We are no longer tentative when we suddenly get turn-over possession.
“Our pack is securing good front-foot ball and the new leadership is seeing to it that we don’t stray from the way we set out to play. Our performances have been the result of excellent team work.”
One major blot in the Province copybook on Saturday was their discipline, as lock Manuel Carizza and wing Kobus van Wyk both spent time in the sin bin. The weekend before, in PE, the team conceded three yellow cards – something that the DHL WP coach is determined to eradicate from his team’s make-up.
“There is a tendency to be over anxious in defence because this team does not want to concede tries,” said Coetzee. “At times our players were also guilty of over-exuberance and that leads to penalties against us.
“Referees are not going to allow cynical things and our players will be hit hard financially when this happens. We have standards for the way we want to play and we frown on players being yellow-carded.”
Province will host the table-topping Golden Lions at DHL Newlands on Saturday (August 23), with the winner of this match likely to move clear into first place on the Currie Cup standings – unless the Sharks beat the Cheetahs by a very big margin next week.
“We want to build on this performance because we are striving for consistency week in and week out,” said Coetzee.
“We must cut out the soft moments in the game when allow opponents through for a try because we did not retain our shape as a team.”
