Will Province's young guns fire?
Although Western Province’s weak tight five proved to be their Achilles heel yet again this season, forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot believes that he has some young players that will turn things around up front fairly soon.
It is a problem that has afflicted the Cape side for some time now – despite having world-beaters elsewhere in their team the big men in the tight five have failed to provide a consistently solid platform.
Western Province have not won any silverware since 2001, and the trophy drought has been attributed to the lack of grunt up front by some clearly frustrated fans, who are tired of seeing their pack marched backwards.
That said, Western Province Rugby’s Senior Professional Coach Rassie Erasmus raised some eyebrows this week when he confirmed that he would not be investing in any new players to give the Province engine room something of an overhaul and Proudfoot was equally confident that the young players at his disposal would make the step up.
With locks Andries Bekker and Rynhardt Elstadt, who impressed as a combination in the Super Rugby campaign, and big SA Under-20 lock Eben Etzebeth also coming through (not to mention Quinn Roux), the Cape side seem to have plenty of young second-row potential looking ahead, but Proudfoot is just as excited about young props Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff who he sees as the future of the Province front row.
He told this website: “We are very lucky to have the likes of Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff – two 20-year-old props who have played both Super Rugby and Currie Cup now, so that is going to be fantastic for us.
“The good thing about them is that physically they are both very good specimens and they have still got a lot of growth to go through,” he explained.
Province tighthead prop Brok Harris has come in for some criticism for seeming to be more keen to carry the ball up at first receiver than getting involved in the tight exchanges, and some have even gone so far as to suggest he has invented a new position – ‘prophalf’ – but Proudfoot believes that his understudy Malherbe has the kind of fighting spirit to lead the Province pack in years to come.
He said: “He is going to be a fantastic player for South Africa and this province for the next 10-12 years. I think he has responded really well this season, him and Tiaan [Liebenberg] have struck up a friendship and Tiaan has been a big part of his development this year.
“His physique is exceptional and he is still young. He is 20 and he doesn’t carry a lot of extra body fat so that means that the work that goes into him now is just bonus.
“His body structure is very good and you can build on that, he is actually quite lean at the moment and we want to try and keep him that way and let him have a good pre-season building into next year,” he added.
Although in terms of technique he may not be the finished article just yet, Proudfoot believes that Malherbe will make the most of his opportunities in the future.
“There are a few technical issues we are working on with him – improving his posture, his angle of attack and the contact that he makes with the loosehead with his right shoulder.
“What is evident is his fight, his personality, his determination. It is all there in spades and those qualities are very important. “We are very confident in Frans and if you give him an opportunity he will take it,” he said.
It will be vital for Malherbe and the rest of the young guns in the Province tight five to make the step up soon if the Cape side are ever going to make the most of their star-studded backline and loose trio and, in the process, perhaps end the trophy drought in the Cape.
By Michael de Vries
