Coach Allister Coetzee was a proud man on Sunday, with the DHL Western Province boss paying tribute to his entire team after their 29-18 Absa Currie Cup win over the Blue Bulls on Saturday.
DHL WP recorded their first Absa Currie Cup win at Loftus Versfeld since the 2006 season – quite a remarkable statistic given the DHL Stormers' recent Super Rugby success in Pretoria.
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“To pick up a win at Loftus is a huge result,” Coetzee told www.wprugby.com, “it was a special Currie Cup victory for DHL Western Province – after seven years of trying in Pretoria. (It was) a massive achievement by the guys.”
Province, with the starting team boasting an average age of a little over 23 (per player), played most of the match a man down after flanker Michael Rhodes was red-carded in the 35th minute and the one-man deficit added to the magnitude of the victory for the unbeaten defending champions.
“We had to make a few plans and adjustments in our game, following Michael's loss,” said Coetzee, whose team remains top of the Absa Currie Cup log after six rounds of action thus far in 2013.
“We had to move a few things around in our line-out, (centre) Damian de Allende had to scrum down at flank at times. But a lot of credit must go to the players – they all upped their work-rate by about 10% to cover for the loss of Michael.”
The Province bench also responded well to the challenge laid down to them – by their opponents on Saturday and their coach during the week.
Loose forward Rohan Kitshoff was his normal industrious self as a 33rd-minute replacement for debutant lock Tazz Fuzani (who excelled in his first Currie Cup appearance), whilst reserve halfbacks Nic Groom and Gary van Aswegen also helped the visitors close out the match with telling second-half contributions.
Van Aswegen added two penalty goals – in the 66th and 74th minutes – after starting No.10 Kurt Coleman had earlier missed just one attempt at goal for a valuable points haul of 13 on the night.
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“I keep reminding the bench how important they are – we remind them every week. It's important for the whole 22 to contribute and I thought every single person in the (matchday) 22 made a contribution in some way.
“We were forced to make a lot more tackles than the Bulls, being a man down for more than a half,” added Coetzee, “but everyone stuck to their tasks and it added to a special victory against a Bulls team that refused to lie down.”
WP have a short week ahead of them, with GWK Griquas due at DHL Newlands on Friday night (September 20), as the defending champions look to retain their unbeaten status in 2013.
Coetzee added: “It's important to keep your feet on the ground in the Currie Cup. We spoke about it last night, there's no time for celebrations – we have plenty of hard work ahead of us, as we look to keep winning every week.
“We have a few niggles in the team, as you would expect after such a physical encounter, but we will assess everyone on Monday. I'm particularly worried about (flank) Rynhardt Elstadt's shoulder and (flyhalf) Gary van Aswegen's knee, but we will see how they look tomorrow.”
* Match tickets for Friday's clash against Griquas at DHL Newlands (kick-off 19h10) can be purchased online, by clicking here, from Postnet Outlets or the Newlands Box Office from Tuesday onwards.
Tickets are now also available at the following Western Cape SPAR stores: Old Oak SPAR, SPAR Philippi, SPAR Century & Plattekloof SUPERSPAR, with ALL Western Cape SPAR stores to follow over the next few weeks.
Ticket prices start at just R35 (for standing), with seating tickets priced from R65 to R95. Scholars tickets can be purchased directly from the WP Rugby offices.
***CLICK HERE for a photo gallery from Saturday's win in Pretoria!***