Coleman to avoid the half-ton blues

Western Province flyhalf Kurt Coleman will make his 50th appearance for the union when they host the Sharks at Newlands in the final round of the Currie Cup.

The pivot, who will also take up vice-captaincy duties, will however be fully focused on the job at hand rather than getting engulfed in the prestige of the occasion.

"It's nice to play 50 [games] for the province but that's not where my focus will be against the Sharks. We have a process that we stick to, so the match is going to be about keeping the momentum as we head into the semifinals," he said.

Coach Allister Coetzee has named a fairly inexperienced team to face the Durban-based side and Coleman believes it's the opportune time for the senior places to lead from the front and motivate the younger players.

"It's a fairly young side but there are a couple of senior guys in the team – myself, Brok [Harris] and Louis [Schreuder]. It's up to us [senior players] to lead from the front to maintain the momentum and keep the processes going," he added.

Coetzee views his team selection as a right they have earned as he looks to give players more game time in the hope of being given a selection headache come the play-off stage of the competition but has, in no way, disrespected their opponents.

"It's an important game for us playing and the energy in the team is unbelievable and hopefully it can be carried through into the game. We're not shy to say we have earned the right to make these [selection] decisions because there's a home semifinal waiting.

"We tried to build squad capacity to make sure we have two or three quality players per position, which has given me the chance to rotate the players and keep them fresh.

"We've never disrespected any team [in the competition] and it's been one of our mottos here. The selection of this team doesn't mean that we are disrespecting the Sharks.

"It's a great opportunity for the players [we have brought in] to play against a quality outfit and to be put under pressure but, most importantly, to stake a claim for a semifinal spot," he said.

Veteran Brok Harris, who has 200 caps for the union (117 for WP and 93 for the Stormers) will take up the captaincy for the match as regular captain Juan De Jongh gets a much deserved break.

"I'm very excited to lead the guys, especially with all the changes and the young guys coming through. There is a great energy and intensity at training and I feel very privileged to lead the union," he said.

By Tauriq Ebrahim

@Tagels03