Coetzee's mind made up
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Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has all but confirmed his team to take on the Bulls even with a multitude of options available to him.
Western Province have the luxury of a Currie Cup home semifinal against the Blue Bulls at Newlands on Saturday as well as a plethora of impressive individuals to choose from.
The men from the Cape will welcome back their three Sevens stars in Cheslin Kolbe, who has set the Currie Cup alight with his dancing feet, Justin Geduld and Seabelo Senatla, who has been a revelation on the wing.
Coach Coetzee also has the benefit of choosing from some of his fringe players who impressed as a second-string team against the Sharks last weekend.
When first looking at his backline options Coetzee has plenty of players knocking on the door for selection in the important upcoming match.
"Players like Pat Howard played well [against the Sharks] and that is what I wanted, guys to really push for a spot in this semifinal game and they pushed hard," Coetzee said.
"Kobus [Van Wyk] is looking good and EW Viljoen has been training well with us – so there are a couple of options to look at."
Further out in the backline, Coetzee has the option of playing an all Sevens back three should he chose to.
"I am really comfortable to get Seb [Seabelo Senatla] straight into it. He had a great outing at the Gold Coast and so he has played a bit of rugby now," the coach continued.
"I must also say with regards to Seabelo, he has played more games than we set out for this season, so we will have a close look at him tomorrow [Wednesday]."
Coetzee was also happy with the way injured Cheslin Kolbe and Jean Kleyn were recovering, stating that they would be up for selection.
"Both of them have trained well [Cheslin Kolbe and Jean Kleyn] and we are really pleased about that."
Justin Geduld suffered a broken nose on the Gold Coast but it did not seem to be something that would stop the speedy wing being selected.
With all this being said, and all the options available to him, it would be understandable if Coetzee were still racking his brain to his team selection.
"My mind is fairly made, 95 percent made, but you still have one, two, or three options," Coetzee said of his team choice.
"It is just off the bench where you want to make sure that you are covered 100 percent.
"You can't predict circumstances and you want to make sure you are covered.
"But if you speak of a 23-man squad, we have got that."
"All the headaches are gone, it is just those one or two off the bench that need to be decided so that it gives the team the best possible chance."
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