DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee wants his team to learn from their defeat to the MTN Golden Lions, pointing to the fact that they can improve their play in pressure situations.
The Men in Blue & White lost their second match of the season to the Golden Lions, having trailed by 3-6 at half-time before conceding a late intercept try as the Lions ran out 22-9 winners at DHL Newlands.
It meant the defending champion Lions returned to the top of the Absa Currie Cup log (on 28 points), with DHL WP remaining in third place (on 20 points) and the Sharks in second place (on 25 points), as the business-end of the 2012 tournament draws closer.
“It was a very disappointing loss for us – for obvious reasons – but credit must go to the Lions,” said Coetzee in the post-match press conference.
“The amount of unforced errors were of our own making because some of them were committed at times when we were not under pressure.
“Our decision-making all afternoon was poor and probably the worst was the overlap situations which potentially were scoring opportunities.”
WP enjoyed the majority of territory and possession at DHL Newlands and Coetzee admitted: “We have quite a few youngsters, many of them straight from the Under-21 ranks and with very few Currie Cup matches under their belts, but they need to learn how to handle pressure.
“When the pressure came they did not make the right decisions. But overall, the Lions had us under pressure when we made errors.”
Looking ahead, with just two matches left in the league phase of the 2012 Absa Currie Cup, Coetzee concluded: “There are two rounds of matches remaining (in the league) and we’ve made it very hard for ourselves to reach the play-offs.
“We’ll have to work harder than before to make sure we can reach the play-offs. We saw how the Lions took their opportunities and they were disciplined on the field.”