Why you need a Final sharpshooter
From 'villain' to hero in just one kick … which he didn't even take. That, in brief, sums up Demetri Catrakilis' year.
His selection, ahead of Cape Town media favourite Kurt Coleman, for the Currie Cup Final last Saturday, raised more than just a few eyebrows.
However, after kicking a flawless five-from-five off the tee – to help WP to a nailbiting 19-16 win over the Golden Lions at Newlands – the 25-year-old flyhalf is suddenly the toast of the town.
That is in stark contrast to his Springbok rival, Lions pivot Marnitz Boshoff, who kicked just three from seven off the tee – including missing that vital final penalty attempt of the game – and was also wide of the target with two drop-goal attempts.
That certainly encapsulates the harsh realities of the game, which has cast the two No.10s in obverse roles on the Currie Cup stage.
Having made his Bok debut off the bench against Scotland in June, on the back of a great Super Rugby campaign, Boshoff's star now appears to be on the wane.
Catrakilis, who was a member of the Springboks training camp for the June Tests last year without getting selected for any matches, is being hailed as a Cape Town hero – with the fickle fans and equally capricious media suggesting he deserved selection to the national team.
Province coach Allister Coetzee, who felt his team made their own luck in a game that could have gone either way, was full of praise for a young flyhalf that has struggled to win over his critics.
"They [the Lions] missed out on a few kicks, but that is what finals are about," Coetzee said, when asked about the contrasting fortunes of the two pivots.
"Demetri [Catrakilis] has been criticised for his [supposedly poor] attacking game, but it shows in a Final you need a sharpshooter and he was on target in this match, yet again.
"I am please with his effort out there," the WP coach said.
Catrakilis, who ironically hails from Johannesburg, the home of the Lions, has travelled far and wide during the past five years.
After coming through the age-group structures at the Golden Lions, his excursions saw him being involved at Racing Metro in France, then return to Cape Town where he played club rugby and Varsity Cup, before being called up to Western Province in 2011.
He joined the Southern Kings for their maiden Super Rugby campaign in 2013, after being sensationally snubbed in Cape Town, before returning to Western Province for last year's Currie Cup campaign.
He still struggled to convince his detractors that he should be the first-choice No.10 in Cape Town, but his Currie Cup Final performance has silenced the critics – at least for now.
By Jan de Koning
@King365ed
@rugby365com
