WP coach lauds young guns

Cape Town - Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has paid credit to his young stars after they booked their spot in the Currie Cup semi-finals.

Province secured a 43-18 win over the Pumas in their last game of the league stages on Saturday, cementing their place in the semi-finals after taking a number of injury knocks during the season.

“I want to say well done to the players. It was mission accomplished,” Coetzee said.

“My congratulations to the many young players who kept us in the competition. It's good that we’re still alive.”

Last year’s losing finalists were confident ahead of the playoffs, according to Coetzee, as they began preparations for their semi-final against the Golden Lions at Ellis Park.

“Now the focus will be on the Lions and since we played them recently we are well equipped to prepare adequately this week,” he said.

Springbok Jean de Villiers, who captained Province at the weekend, was pleased there was still a trophy to lift after South Africa’s quarter-final defeat to Australia in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

“It was disappointing coming back from a failed World Cup campaign but the Currie Cup competition has given us another chance for glory,” De Villiers said.

“We must also say well done to the youngsters who allowed us to reach the semis and we know there’s hard work ahead this week.”

Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse made one last plea for the SA Rugby Union (SARU) to reconsider the new format which would see the premier division reduced from eight teams to six next season.

Having finished second from bottom, despite a number of narrow defeats to the bigger unions, the Pumas were relegated to the first division, and left facing an uphill battle in regaining their place in the top-flight.

“I just wish SARU would think about what they are doing to the smaller unions,” Stonehouse said.

“We have been very competitive but next year we’ll be playing in a lower division, and because of that we lose our sponsors.

“There’s a host of problems that we’ll be sitting with because we won’t be able to keep our best players.

“The bigger unions will snap up all the better players which means another year of team building is ahead.”

Stonehouse was proud of his squad for putting up a much stronger fight than indicated by the final log standings.

“It has been an amazing season for us at the Pumas,” he said.

“We ran all the top sides close at one stage or the other this season.

“The players have been very competitive and they kept on believing in themselves, but we have extreme limitations in terms of player staff.”