Western Province have scored 34 tries in just eight games in the Currie Cup by employing a positive attacking gameplan, but they want to place a greater emphasis on tactical kicking and defence in the playoff stages.
That was the perspective of backline coach Robbie Fleck yesterday, and the hurt felt after going down to the Sharks in last year’s final at Newlands may have something to do with it.
That day Brendan Venter’s charges came up with a clever chip-kick strategy that exploited space behind the WP backline, and with a dominant pack winning the forward battle and a masterclass from flyhalf Patrick Lambie, the Sharks broke Province hearts with a 33-19 victory.
Now they will face the Cheetahs and Sharks for the first time in the competition over the next fortnight, and Fleck said that WP must adjust their strategy accordingly. “We are getting to the business end of the competition and the teams we are playing against now, like the Sharks and the Cheetahs, have played in semi-finals and finals before, so the whole mindset of the teams start to change,” the former Springbok centre said yesterday.
“That means that the defences are going to tighten up, the kicking game is going to play a bigger role, and we need to be prepared for that. We need to be mindful of the fact that in a Currie Cup final last year, we were beaten by a good-quality Sharks side with a big kicking game and a big defence game. So when it comes to playoff rugby, teams change their mindsets.
“The way that Demetri played the game in that first half against the Pumas – he kept our forwards on the front foot and he found space in behind the defence, and we played some positive, pressure rugby, and it’s something that we need to be mindful of.”
Fleck did add that WP’s “ability to score tries in unstructured play and structured play is still going to be a major focus of ours”, so the danger for Province in deviating somewhat from the template that has worked for them thus far is that the players could be a bit confused as to what the overall style of play should be.
With Province and the Stormers embarking on an overhaul of their gameplan since the appointment of Gert Smal as director of rugby in April, reining the players in and instructing them to use the boot more when passing or running would be the better option in a particular situation could trip up the 2012 champions in the playoffs.
At least the likely recall of Nic Groom to the starting line-up for Saturday’s game against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein should ensure that Province still play a good brand of attacking rugby, as he has improved dramatically in the last few months after a few inconsistent performances earlier in the year.
Groom is able to vary his play cleverly at scrumhalf, and he is not shy to catch defences off-guard with a quick penalty tap or break around the fringes.
The absence of Cheslin Kolbe, Seabelo Senatla and Justin Geduld from the back-three will affect Province’s ability to counter-attack as the trio possess searing pace that can out-flank the most efficient defences around, but Fleck insisted that WP will still look to strike from the back if the Cheetahs produce a bad kick.
Dillyn Leyds rejoined Province on Monday after a short stay at the Western Force, and he is likely to start at fullback in Bloemfontein, with Devon Williams’s outright speed possibly being a deciding factor in his battle with Pat Howard for the left-wing berth.
“We have stated it all along that we like to replace like-for-like players. But we also want to work on the other areas that we have traditionally been strong at, like our defence and kicking game because we do know that when it comes to playoff rugby, that’s massively important,” Fleck said.
“It has been a massive team effort this year, and we haven’t played like a bunch of individuals and that has been part of our success. The other guys have been doing the hard work to unleash the likes of Cheslin, Seabelo and Kobus van Wyk.
“But the likes of Dillyn Leyds and Devon Williams all have the pace to expose defences in broken play. So we are not going to lose too much, but I agree that we do need to play a little bit smarter, and we did that in the first half against the Pumas.
“The mindset when it comes to counter-attack or turnover possession will never change – that’s the one thing that we have got right, whether Cheslin Kolbe, Jaco Taute or Dillyn Leyds is at the back.”
“Dillyn has slotted in well and he is a class footballer. He came through our age-group levels and knows the guys really well.” - Cape Times