Cape Town - In the build-up to last year’s Currie Cup final, the magnitude of Western Province’s title defence was given added significance by special tokens to honour the occasion.
What followed was a blowout loss, and coach Allister Coetzee has steered clear of repeating the mistake as his team ready to battle the Lions for glory at Newlands on Saturday.
“Last year was a bit of an emotional thing,” said Coetzee. “I think that played a role in the final.
“In terms of how we approached it (this year), we’ve got a different view and take on that.
“When you play at home in a final, there’s already emotion in that, and if you still add one little thing, you know, just your final captain’s meeting - last year we had mentors handing the jerseys to the players… it’s just unnecessary pressure.
“We’ve been very relaxed this week, the focus was solely on our processes and what we’ve been doing, so we did what we normally do - a normal captain’s run.
“There was no going to a special place, just the same things we’ve been doing throughout the year.”
It is easy for players, especially young ones like those that comprise most of the WP lineup, to get mentally and emotionally burnt out by the hype of a final.
Coetzee isn’t taking any chances. He hasn’t just scrapped the mentors, there won’t be a jersey presentation.
“Normally we only hand out jerseys to the new caps, and there are no new caps, so it will be the same old Friday captain’s run,” he said. “Nothing special; nothing new.”
For the sake of his players, Coetzee has spent the week deflating balloons and pulling down banners celebrating another appearance in a final, but the WP coach may have struggled to resist the temptation to look over his shoulder.
He started the season in the shadow of a giant ultimatum - win, or else. It was WP president Theo Wakefield who laid down this “non-negotiable” challenge in July as the Stormers sputtered to their worst finish in Super Rugby since 2006.
A run of seven losses in 12 knockout matches since 2009 in the Currie Cup and Super Rugby combined preceded the Stormers’ disappointing campaign. Wakefield issued a warning that nothing other than a shiny trophy would shield the team from, ostensibly, changes to the coaching staff.
Province need only beat the Lions to meet the terms of that challenge, but Coetzee denied that anything other than the prospect of success would spur on his charges on Saturday.
“This team will never be driven by fear, it’s driven by their own standards, and ambition, because they’re true professionals,” the Province coach said when asked about the potential consequences of defeat.
The Currie Cup is a shadow of the competition that was once revered as a peerless domestic championship in world rugby.
Where winning a Super Rugby title establishes a regional union’s credentials as a powerhouse, success in the Currie Cup only validates the health of the junior structures.
Other unions dream about having the surplus of talent available in the Western Cape. That Province have teams in the Under-19 and Under-21 deciders on Saturday suggests that Newlands should continue to contest Currie Cup finals for the foreseeable future.
But, as far as it pertains to the WP management team, beating the Lions on Saturday will not make amends for a steady decline in Super Rugby form, or guarantee an upturn in results next year. It will also do nothing to erase the spectre of past play-off defeats.
Victory on Saturday nonetheless remains supremely important for Coetzee, who has yet to prove he can win when his team is expected to.
And, despite all the jawing about the Lions being the favourites, the expectation is that log-leading Province will come out on top on Saturday.
The Lions have only twice won at Newlands since 1995, and while some point out that they will field their Super Rugby side in the Currie Cup final, it’s more likely that the reverse is true - the Joburg union is effectively represented in the southern hemisphere regional competition by a glorified Currie Cup team.
This explains why they’ve won a total of 24 matches in the past seven seasons.
The Lions do boast a tight five of overachievers fashioned into a formidable scrum by coach Johan Ackermann.
A beaten tight five has been the common denominator in Province and the Stormers’ recent play-off demise, and this unit will again play a lead role in determining the result of Saturday’s final.
Province heavies Alistair Vermaak, Scarra Ntubeni, Pat Cilliers, Jean Kleyn and Manuel Carizza must assert themselves against their counterparts to nullify the Lions’ dynamic back row.
If the Province tight forwards lose control of the set-piece battle, Jaco Kriel, Derick Minnie and Warren Whiteley will submit the Newlands faithful to another loss.
But if Cilliers gets the right shoulder, the Lions loosies will spend the afternoon eating hand-offs from Rynhardt Elstadt and Michael Rhodes, Province will shake their chokers tag, and Coetzee will prove he’s capable of shouldering the weight of expectation.
Weekend Argus