Province must stay on attacking path

Chris Ricco/ BackpagePix

THATS MORE LIKE IT: Western Province centre and vice-captain Juan de Jongh tries to hand off Lions lock Franco van der Merwe in Johannesburg on Saturday evening. De Jongh was in fine form, but WP still lost 26-23

Ashfak Mohamed

WESTERN PROVINCE must not give up on their ambition of playing more attacking rugby in the Currie Cup despite losing 26-23 in injury time to the Lions.

After the Stormers lost their Super Rugby semi-final against the Sharks, coach Allister Coetzee declared that he will make “tweaks” to a largely defensive gameplan for WP’s Currie Cup campaign. And the way they started out against the Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday evening, WP had made much more than just tweaks.

For once there was a refreshing flow to Province’s play, and it resulted in an outstanding try by wing Gerhard van den Heever after just eight minutes – the ball had gone through 14 phases from inside the WP half. The Cape side carried the ball straight up the middle and shifted it wide, using the power of Duane Vermeulen and Siya Kolisi, and the speed and skill of Demetri Catrakilis, Juan de Jongh, Ederies Arendse and others.

For large patches of the match, Deon Fourie and his team played some superb attacking rugby, putting the phases together and showing good patience in carrying the ball instead of just kicking it away in a rigid gameplan.

But it was spoilt by several turnovers at the breakdowns (often inside the Lions’ 22), giving away silly penalties, unusually slipping tackles in defence and booting kickoffs straight into touch. They lost their composure and panicked a bit when the Lions hit back before halftime and at the end of the game.

The bad habits of the Stormers’ kicking game crept into the WP display right at the end when the score was 23-23 and the siren had sounded.

Province launched a brilliant maul that rumbled about 20 metres forward, but when it stopped and referee Stuart Berry told Dewaldt Duvenage to use the ball, he kicked an up-and-under. WP were on the halfway line and would surely have been better served by keeping possession in order to force a penalty to win the game.

Province conceded a penalty four minutes after the final siren when Fourie came in from the side to contest a ruck, and Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies coolly slotted the winning kick.

But the positive approach should be persevered with, despite Coetzee seemingly suggesting yesterday that playing more attacking rugby was part of the reason for the defeat. It wasn’t, and perhaps if WP had employed more players at the breakdowns to deal with the Lions’ counter-rucking, the Cape side would’ve won. Also, the lineout wasn’t at its best, and the Lions were on top in the scrums.

Scrumhalf Louis Schreuder was full of ideas and tried to do things differently compared to Duvenage. He probed the blindside and the fringes of the rucks, took quick tap penalties and made a couple of line-breaks. Schreuder has a big kicking boot too, but needs to work on his clearing from the base – it needs to be quicker and smoother.

Flyhalf Catrakilis showed he can attack the advantage line and play “flat”, and it created space out wide. De Jongh was his old self again, sidestepping defenders into a spin with his footwork and speed. Van den Heever was strong in contact, and Arendse showed good pace when he had the ball.

But there were too many penalties conceded at the scrums and breakdowns. To be fair to WP, some of referee Berry’s decisions were highly contentious, and many of the close calls appeared to go the Lions’ way.

Coetzee, though, will know that this was a game that WP threw away. And that should be the positive that he takes out of this game heading into Saturday’s north-south derby against the Blue Bulls at Newlands. Province have taken the first steps on a more attacking path, and they need to continue if they are to stand a chance of winning the Currie Cup.