Coetzee waits for the 'fat lady to sing'
Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:07
Western Province coach Allister Coetzee, who is hopeful of fielding a full-strength Springbok-laden team in their decisive Currie Cup match against the Lions at Newlands on Saturday, says his team is ready to fight to the bitter end.
Using the proverb that 'It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings', Coetzee said that his team is confident they can edge the Lions into the play-offs.
Province caused themselves a few headaches when they failed to collect a bonus point in their 23-7 win over the Boland Cavaliers in a muddy mire in Wellington at the weekend.
To top it all Province lost inspirational skipper Jean de Villiers shortly before the match with a stomach virus - while prop Brian Mujati, scrumhalf Ricky Januarie and lock Adriaan Fondse also missed out on the trip to Wellington.
Januarie got married in Johannesburg on Saturday, Mujati had an arm injury and Fondse had a stomach muscle injury.
Coetzee revealed that the only major concern remains Fondse, who will have his status re-assessed when the team gather on Monday.
The other three will all be fighting fit for the Lions.
That means Coetzee and company can no focus on getting the job done against the Lions - which include having to beat the Johannesburg-based outfit by 19 points or more, scoring at least four tries to secure a bonus point of their own and ensuring the visitors don't collect a bonus point.
Coetzee said the team's failure to collect a much-needed bonus point in Wellington at the weekend felt like a defeat.
"It feels like a loss, but it definitely was not through a lack of effort," Coetzee said in an interview on the Province website.
"The withdrawal of Jean [de Villiers] had an effect and by that I am not saying Morgan [Newman] hasn't played well. He did well in his first start at inside centre this season and in these conditions with Sireli [Naqelevuki] as his centre partner.
"We were also disrupted when Peter Grant had to leave the field after taking a knock to his ankle."
Coetzee said the drama about where the game was going to be played made things a bit difficult, but they always knew they had to go play at Wellington or some other field, as it was Boland's home game.
"The conditions were tough and we never experienced conditions like these."
He said WP had plenty of opportunities to score tries.
"We had about five and I don't take Sireli's one into consideration. But maybe we were a bit overeager towards the end. We rushed it again.
"But I must give the guys credit for the second-half effort. Schalk [Burger] did well as stand-in captain, but I am sure with Jean in the side things would have panned out differently."
He added that his team will no focus on beating the Lions and keeping their play-off hopes alive.
"We know it is not over for us. There is still a ray of hope. It is not over until it is over.
