A showreel of blockbusting counter-attacks has defined this Currie Cup campaign in the minds of Western Province fans, but now it’s time for the heavies to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.
Allister Coetzee is betting a home final – and his job – on a thundering herd of forwards to stampede the Blue Bulls at Newlands today.
The WP coach has put a premium on grunt for the semi-final, with pack beasts Jean Kleyn, Manuel Carizza, Rynhardt Elstadt and Michael Rhodes combining for an average of 1.98m and 114kg of prime beef.
This is the reason Sikhumbuzo Notshe has been relegated to the bench after four starts.
Notshe, 1.9m and 100kg, is in the same mould as WP No8 Nizaam Carr, a fleet-footed loose forward gifted with quickness and agility. Those two attributes are about as useful as a milk bucket under a bull when the job at hand involves stopping a driving maul, and there are few teams more adept at wrangling a cattle drive than the one from Pretoria.
It is putting it mildly to say that Province’s maul defence has been far too generous to rival teams in recent weeks.
But why would Coetzee go to such great lengths to fortify the pack against a Bulls outfit that has twice been corralled by Province this season?
And how is lumbering Elstadt more suited to a fetching role than Notshe?
The obvious answer to the first question is that the Wynberg old boy wasn’t in the matchday squad for either of those wins. And the answer to the second is hidden in the fact that it was adamantine flanker Siya Kolisi who wreaked havoc from No6 against the Bulls.
The Province defensive scheme does not utilise a fetcher – as evidenced by the dropping of ball-hawk Rohan Kitshoff after one start this season.
Instead, they employ tackle-and-tank tactics. The goal is to disrupt the attacking team’s tempo and composure by having the tackler and first arrival power through the ruck, applying pressure on rival cleaners and rushing the scrumhalf to clear the ball.
It’s an indirect route to generating turnovers without the guesswork and decision-making associated with trying to steal possession at the tackle point.
Kolisi, Rhodes and Kleyn teamed up to produce a whirlwind effect on the Bulls’ attacking breakdown in August, and Coetzee rightfully believes Elstadt is better suited to the physical demands of such a role than Notshe.
As far as abrasiveness is concerned, Elstadt is somewhat of an over-achiever and there is a warning label associated with his selection – the bristling enforcer has earned as many yellow cards as starts this season.
But the Bulls are no choir boys.
Captain Deon Stegmann notched up a red card for landing two elbow strikes on EP Kings flanker Devin Oosthuizen last month, and the likes of Dean Greyling and Paul Willemse are no strangers to the sin bin.
It’s a risk Coetzee has to take. More dangerous than Elstadt conceding a yellow card is an out-gunned WP pack conceding momentum.
And there’s always the chance that Elstadt’s refusal to back down will bring the worst out of Stegmann and Greyling.
Victory will see win-bonuses banked as WP advance to a Newlands final. But there’s more at stake forCoetzee, who will remember the “non-negotiable” target of a Currie Cup title set by WP president Thelo Wakefield in July after another woeful Super Rugby experience.
Coetzee needs Elstadt to fire so that Wakefield doesn’t have to. - The Star