Coetzee holds his head high

 

Coetzee's side suffered their third consecutive home Super Rugby play-off defeat on Saturday, with their 19-39 capitulation against the Brumbies following on from semifinal defeats against the Crusaders in 2011 and the Sharks in 2012.

 

However, despite another disappointing knock-out performance in front of their home fans, Coetzee said that he has no regrets about his time in charge in Cape Town.

 

The Japan-bound coach said that he is particularly proud of the way his team has dominated the South African conference and led the way in terms of transformation over the last five years.

 

"I am pleased with my mission, maybe not the way I wanted to end but playing and winning two Currie Cups and three conference trophies, being the best South African side and being the best transformed side, to me that is my job done and I am really happy with that.

 

"It is not just transformation in terms of colour, but it is transformation in how Frans Malherbe becomes a leader, and how Juan de Jongh becomes a leader.

 

"It is not just about skin colour, but if you look at the dynamics of the side and you go to Johannesburg and black guy tells me that this is his team that he supports, then I know that it is the right job that I have done.

 

"I go with no regrets, I go away very pleased that we have won, we transformed and we were sustainable.

 

"We didn't win the big one in Super Rugby yet, I will leave that to the next guy, I have done the groundwork," he said.

 

Coetzee admitted that the Brumbies simply outplayed his side, outscoring them by six tries to one by taking their opportunities and dominating the breakdown.

 

"One has got to take this on the chin, move on and give credit to a Brumbies side that were just better on the day in most departments.

 

"There are no excuses to be made, they are deserved winners.

 

"Obviously we didn't help ourselves with unforced errors, yet again the line-out didn't function well. I think we could have done better with our kicking game which wasn't all that good.

 

"They took their chances, every chance they created they converted. We had so many chances as well which we didn't convert," he explained.

 

Although the Stormers have been the most consistent South African team, Coetzee said that the next challenge will be to show that they can compete with the top teams in the competition in play-off matches, and added that they have the potential to do so.

 

"We have had enough chances to get to play-offs now, we must win it going forward. Maybe with the next coach because I won't be here, but they are definitely good enough to go all the way.

 

"We won the Currie Cup in 2014 and we won the conference this year, so if there is any doubt about who is the best team in South Africa then I don't know what else we need to do.

 

"The focus must be shifted to the next level, we have got depth now we need to keep this group of players together for the next two seasons and then we can contest for the Super Rugby trophy," he said.