Province coaches safe, says Chairman
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:00
Despite admitting that he was disappointed following Western Provinces failure to qualify for the semifinals of the 2008 Currie Cup, WP Rugby Chairman Pat Kuhn says he still has the utmost faith in senior coaches Rassie Erasmus and Allister Coetzee.
Following the Cape side's failure to beat the Lions by more than nineteen points and secure a bonus point last Saturday, the team finished fifth on the log and therefore missed out on a trip to the Absa Staduim to face the Sharks for a place in SA Rugby's showpiece final.
Speaking to the Cape Times after the weekend's effort, Kuhn said: "I am obviously disappointed that WP could not make the semis.
"The two games lost against Griquas and Valke played a big part in us not making it, while we were also without our Springboks, but we should never have lost those two games. There is no excuse for not making the semis. I personally expected that WP would make the semis.
"I know that the WP fans out there are upset. I have been approached by lots of people wherever I go. People even spoke to me about it when I went to church. I have also seen some ugly newspaper posters. It is just 'Province this' or 'Province that'. It is not nice to see."
It is now seven years since WP tasted success in the Currie Cup, but Kuhn says it is crazy to be talking about replacing the coaches after one poor finish to a season.
"I have heard stories that we should fire the coaches, but I haven't even thought of that. We can't just fire the coaches again. Province have a horrible history of hiring and firing coaches.
"We cannot do that again. We haven't talked about the season with the coaches, but we do plan to meet with them soon. We have to remember that this was Rassie's first year at Province. So we need to work with him and build up the team so that we can win trophies again."
Some in the media have questioned some of Erasmus's player recruitment, with AJ Venter and Willem de Waal particularly seen as strange acquisitions.
Kuhn though was philosophical when addressing the idea of the new players who had arrived in Cape Town, saying: "In terms of the signings made, maybe here and there, there were some bad buys,
"But sometimes things don't work out. If you buy a bag with 10 bananas in it, and you find that two are rotten, what can you do?
"There were also some good signings made. Guys like Ricky Januarie and Gcobani Bobo have a new status in South African rugby. We are also planning for the future. I know that the man in the street doesn't care about that and that they just want to see WP win the Currie Cup and the Stormers the Super 14.
"But we have established the High Performance Centre in Bellville and the WP Institute in Stellenbosch.
"So things are positive. It is disappointing not to reach the semis, but we will pick up the pieces and hopefully have learnt from the experience. Things sometimes happen for a reason."
