Work to be done for WP

 

The opening game of the Currie Cup was a scrappy affair with penalties, errors and yellow cards the predominate theme through-out.

 

Western Province were held back in the first half by the Kings, going into the break a point behind at 11-10, due largely to ill discipline and two yellow cards.

 

The second half however did see Province settle down and get things going as the Kings faded away, but that is still not good enough for Coetzee.

 

"One thing that we will have to get right is the penalty count," Coetzee said looking ahead in the competition after a rusty start.

 

"We played with 14 men for 30 minutes and in terms of our standards of discipline – this is unacceptable.

 

"The players know it, we spoke about it at half time and it is something that we will have to fix next week."

 

Despite the 35-16 victory, Western Province were under a lot of pressure in a number of aspects of the game – other than just their disciplinary problems.

 

"I was disappointed with our mauling defense," Coetzee added about his concerns for his young team.

 

"Then again their [the Kings] formation must be credited in the way they mauled and also at scrum time I think they were really good.

 

"For us, having Pat Cilliers at loosehead for the first time this year was a bit of a disruption in accommodating Frans Malherbe.

 

"Obviously we will have to work hard at scrum time, and especially stopping mauls defensively."

 

For the coach, it is not all bad news – he has been able to identify his problem areas early on and can strive to fix them with no damage done on the over all points log.

 

"There has got to be a better balance that we need to strive for," Coetzee said

 

"We need to play in the right areas and then to put the pressure on with ball in hand.

 

"Trying to run out of your own half scoring 60 and 70 metre tries is not the answer – I know they know it, and I know they will fix it and get it right."

 

There was a late call made on matchday by the coach to move Springbok Eben Etzebeth onto the bench when he was put down to start, Coetzee explains that it was due to the intensity at the Springbok camp.

 

"We discovered that Eben [Etzebeth] had had a tough week with the Boks, going through two sessions on Monday, two sessions on Tuesday and one before he came back," the coach added.

 

"So from that point of view I think it was just fair to play him off the bench with him and Frans [Malherbe] – and I think it worked well."

 

Western Province now return to Cape Town to await the Blue Bulls who were humiliated 41-13 by the Golden Lions in Johannesburg on the weekend.

 

There is good news for Province with about six players expected back from injury – but for Coetzee this is also a minor headache.

 

"We will get about six guys back next week – but then they are also underdone – so its a two-edged sword," said the coach

 

"Our guys now have had their first feel for 80 minutes of game time.

 

"Guys like Scarra [Siyabonga] Ntubeni, Brok Harris, Rynhardt Elstadt, Kurt Coleman and one or two others will return, but the hope is that they can comeback at the same intensity.

 

The second round of the Currie Cup sees Province back at home and the Blue Bulls on the road for a second time in two weeks.

 

However, the men from Pretoria are bound to put up a bigger fight after their Round One defeat to the Lions.