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Coetzee: 'Laaities' showed guts

Cape Town - Western Province coach Allister Coetzee has lauded his young side after they overturned a half-time deficit to beat the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

WP - who still have several players eligible for Under-21 rugby - trailed 19-13 at the break but came back to win 29-22.

"It was a pleasing result. It was a tense match, but for these 'laaities' to come here and win in Bloemfontein... I thought they showed plenty of guts in a very tough match,” Coetzee said.
 
"It was especially pleasing how we fought back in the second half. We had to be physical but, at the same time, we had to be smart.
 
"Like I said during the week, it was never going to be a case of just pitching up and winning (in Bloemfontein), but the guys coped well under pressure and showed a great attitude."

WP had one minor casualty from the Cheetahs game, with flank Rynhardt Elstadt (flank) sustaining a few bumps and bruises. He will be given time to recover and will be assessed again during the week.

In other injury news, fullback Joe Pietersen (wrist) and flank Tyrone Holmes (shoulder) are up for selection this week, while wing Ederies Arendse (shoulder) is still unavailable.

The Capetonians now top the Currie Cup log, but Coetzee warned that there’s no time to rest on their laurels.

"I've said it before; it's been a funny old season of Currie Cup rugby. Before the Blue Bulls match we were fifth... now we're first. It proves that we need to stay humble and keep working on our game. We set the standard against the Bulls and we really want to stick to that."

They travel to Durban this week to take on the Sharks at Kings Park on Saturday. (19:10 kick-off)
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