Newlands defeat a 'good thing'

WP face the same Cheetahs team on Saturday in the Currie Cup semi-final at the same venue where they lost 29-24 in the first match of the second round at the end of August. Province made a lot of mistakes that night and failed to come to terms with a Cheetahs defence that pressed up and cut down their space.

It was the first defeat that WP had suffered to the Cheetahs at Newlands since Rassie Erasmus swopped provinces in 2007, so it should have been a timely boost to the visiting team’s confidence as they travel to a difficult away venue.

At the same, however, Coetzee believes the result may mitigate any chance of his team going into the match in a complacent mood due to their run of success against the Bloemfontein side.

“I think that the Newlands defeat to the Cheetahs was a good thing for us for a couple of reasons,” agreed Coetzee.

“Firstly it means there is no question of us now underestimating the Cheetahs. We know what they can do for we lost to them just a couple of weeks ago at this venue. Hopefully we also learned from our mistakes in that game, for there were some invaluable lessons drummed out to us in that game.”

Coetzee has prioritised the need to retain composure and hold onto the ball and protect possession in the face of the Cheetahs defensive system as one of the main things that his men should have learned from the August clash.

Although WP were lucky to escape with a bonus point in that match as the Cheetahs led by some distance until five minutes from the end, Coetzee recalls that it was a couple of key defensive errors that cost his team, and they had enough opportunities on attack to win the match had they been more patient.

“It’s all about opportunities, which we won’t get that much of in a play-off match, and taking those opportunities,” he said.

“We made great decisions last week (against the Sharks) and conceded only seven or eight penalties. That is what is needed in semi-finals. The least mistakes you make, the better you look after your possession and thus your chances of winning the game.”

One player who does not need to be reminded of how tough the Cheetahs can be is WP captain Schalk Burger, who played in both the semi-finals that WP lost to the Cheetahs at Newlands in the middle parts of last decade.

“I have played in too many big games against the Cheetahs where we have lost, so I know they will come to Cape Town thinking they can win. We are going to have to play well to prevent them achieving that objective, we are very aware of that,” said Burger.

The Springbok said his team had learned their lessons from the Super 14 final, where the Bulls wrapped up the game in the first quarter by taking a 16-3 lead.

“You don’t come back from that sort of scoreline in a final or semi-final, so we won’t want that to happen to us on Saturday. We got through our Super 14 semi-final (against the Waratahs) by producing a sustained 80 minute performance of controlled rugby, and that is what we need to do again this week.”