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WP coach in two minds

Cape Town - Western Province coach Allister Coetzee, fielding an inexperienced outfit, with the majority his top players either on international duty or injured, was not disappointed, nor was he entirely satisfied with the 26-all draw against Griquas at Newlands.

Gallery: Currie Cup kicks off

"For us it was a pleasing result, considering we went into the match without a warm-up fixture," Coetzee said.

"Having said that, it's not nice to draw, especially at home.

"This performance was kind of expected from a young team with new combinations."

Coetzee said they were able to take a number of positives from the errors they had made.

"We employed the wrong tactics at the scrums," he said.

"We have to learn to respect the ball. We were up against a team that lives off turn-overs so it was a hard lesson for the youngsters to learn."

Griquas coach Abre Minnie was, however, a bit more satisfied with the performance of his young side.

"We believed 100 percent that we could win the match," Minnie said.

"We're sitting with really good players despite the fact more than half of our team are really newcomers at this level."

Minnie said they had worked hard in defence in the build-up to the season, which paid off on Saturday.

"We've realised that if we want to win the Currie Cup, we must brush up on defence," he said.

"We can score tries but we have also conceded lots of tries in the past."

The Griquas' mentor, nonetheless, admitted they had some work to do if they were to challenge for this year's title.

"We did poorly with our kicks. We wanted contestable kicks and then we placed ourselves under pressure because we lost ball too easily," Minnie said.
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