Brad: Coetzee better than Vermeulen
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Sharks coach Brad Mcleod-Henderson has said that Marcell Coetzee should have been named the Player of the Year for 2014 over Duane Vermeulen.
Speaking ahead of the Sharks' first match against the Cheetahs, Mcleod-Henderson was full of praise for his all action forward who he believes has molded himself into the best openside flank in the world.
"I think I said it last year already; I think Marcell Coetzee is the worlds best openside," Mcleod-Henderson said.
"Not only is he a devastating threat at the breakdown, he is also a fantastic ball carrier.
"He had an unbelievable season last year and I think he was maybe a little unlucky to be pipped by Duane Vermeulen [at the SARU awards evening where Coetzee was a finalist for Player of the Year alongside Vermeulen].
"Against Toulon he had a brilliant, brilliant game, he is firing on all cylinders and we can't wait to see him on Saturday."
Coetzee's 2014 was an impressive one, for both the Sharks and the Springboks, with the flank sitting near top of the stats for tackles and turnovers in Super Rugby.Coetzee managed a 91 percent tackle completion rate, missing only 11 out of 107, this slightly edged Vermeulen's at 89 percent (14 missed out of 112)
Vermeulen got the better of Coetzee in turnovers with 14 compared to 12, however the Stormers man did play one more game than his rival.
In attack the stats are close again, with Vermeulen racking up 134 carries to Coetzee's 129.
Defenders beaten favours the Stormers man slightly with 29 against 22, but Coetzee did score three tries to Vermeulen's one.
However, the biggest surprise in the stats must be that Coetzee, notorious for not passing, made only one less pass than the No.8 (46 to 47) and almost doubled the number of offloads (11 to six).
The Sharks coach may have some justification in comparing Coetzee to South Africa's best player based on the stats, but it is Coetzee's mental determination and drive that really excites the Mcleod-Henderson.
"Marcell has a brilliant work ethic, he is always looking to work and do the extras," the coach added.
"He is still a young guy who is evolving his game, he is still going to grow and improve and we look forward to watching that happen."
Mcleod-Henderson still had some praise left over for a few more of his forwards, especially those who shone brightly in the muddy condition in France against Toulon.
"If you watch the Toulon game Renaldo [Bothma] had a fantastic game, he carried the ball really well and defended very aggressively, so we are very happy with his performance," he said.
More praise came for captain Bismarck du Plessis who was a menace at the breakdown and looked to be back to his best.
"I don't think Bismarck [du Plessis] has ever really been in bad form," he went on.
"He also had a great game against Toulon, it was a nice challenge and a very physical game – Bizzy loves that.
"He leads the boys from the front so we are really fortunate to have him as our captain."
Speaking more on the breakdown, Mcleod-Henderson was happy at how it was managed by the Sharks against Toulon in a game where the forwards were definitely key.
"You are always focusing on the breakdown, it is an area that we work hard on, we spend a lot of time on it," the coach said.
"We were happy with our breakdown against Toulon with quiet a few guys getting some turn overs.
"We have still got to make sure that we stay within our systems and not go out on one-man wrecking missions though, we need to try to stick to our defensive systems."
By: Darryn Pollock
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