Allister Coetzee, the DHL WP coach, praised his team for their ‘workmanlike performance’ as the Men in Blue & White hoops booked a place in the 2012 Absa Currie Cup semifinals.
DHL Western Province beat a gallant Toyota Free State Cheetahs side by 36-15 at DHL Newlands on Saturday, sealing a third-place finish on the Absa Currie Cup log and, with it, a semifinal meeting 642-832 against the defending champion MTN Golden Lions.
“We were very clinical in the first 60 or 70-odd minutes,” said Coetzee. “It was a very workmanlike performance, much like the Sharks last night.
“The important thing was that we dominated the physical side of things, the collisions. The scrummaging was good, our defence was also good and we took our opportunities on attack well when VCP-510 they presented themselves.
“On the whole, however, and more importantly, I thought we performed well as a team,” added the WP boss.
“The Boks added great value across the board (for us tonight) and also the rest of the team here played their part – they didn’t just sit back and let the Boks do the hard work… so overall it was a pleasing result for us.”
Coetzee pointed to his team’s set-piece as a crucial aspect of their performance, but also with an eye on next weekend’s semifinal action in Johannesburg.
“It’s important to go into the knockout phase of a tournament being happy and having confidence in your set-piece.
“Like I said earlier, I thought we scrummed well tonight but we took a big step up in our line-out (from the Bulls match). That’s what you need to get right for a semifinal – the set-piece – and we need to build on that for next week.”
Meanwhile, DHL Western Province captain Jean de Villiers paid tribute to his teammates after their victory.
“When you put the DHL WP jersey on you have a responsibility to perform well,” said De Villiers.
“You give it everything you’ve got and you will put your body on the line. It’s great, as a captain, to know that you’ve got guys out there committed to the cause and never for one minute did I doubt anyone out there.
“Again, it’s nice playing at DHL Newlands,” added De Villiers, “it’s nice playing in front of your own people after a nice and relaxed feeling within the camp this week.”
However, looking ahead to next weekend’s semifinal, the Bok and WP skipper warned: “It was a good performance but there’s plenty of hard work ahead for us. We’ll be up against a very good Currie Cup team next week. They know how to win Currie Cups and it will be a tough battle up there.
“We know we made mistakes in last year’s semifinal against them, but we’re looking forward to it.”