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Flyhalf poser for Province
23/07/2008 18:22 - (SA)
Cape Town - On a day when the media were declared off-limits Western Province coach Allister Coetzee could not decide on his flyhalf when he named the side to play neighbours Boland in Saturday's Currie Cup derby at Newlands.
Instead the cagey former Saru scrumhalf bracketed the names of Willem de Waal and Peter Grant next to the flyhalf's position.
There can be no guessing who Coetzee will chose to wear the No 10 jersey on Saturday because the training sessions on Tuesday were closed to the media.
And just when the local rugby scribes thought they would get an insight into WP's thinking, a note sent out early on Wednesday morning declared the "open to the media" training session had been declared "closed to the media" on the express wishes of Coetzee.
"It's not that we don't want the media around but we wanted to try a few new things," said Coetzee. "Boland are our Super 14 franchise partners and many of their players and coaches were part of our set-up at the start of the year.
"They know quite a bit about how we play and we therefore had to make changes."
High on passion and commitment
WP's feeling of extreme vulnerability stems from two successive weeks of humiliation at the hands of lowly sides like Griquas and Falcons. Coetzee also knows too well that whenever Boland - WP's "country cousins" - come to town they are always high on passion and commitment.
At the back of Coetzee's mind will also be the fact that just a year ago Boland defeated WP 15-10, even though the Bolanders had two players in the sin bin during the match.
Coetzee said the De Waal/Grant riddle will be solved once he has taken into account a few factors such as the weather and Grant's readiness to fit into the WP playing pattern after his sojourn with the Springboks.
However, as a flyhalf Grant is streets ahead of De Waal but the latter is in a class of his own as a match winner. WP will also be reluctant to play De Waal off the bench because he was hand-picked by WP head coach Rassie Erasmus to spearhead the province's Currie Cup campaign this season.
Apart from the variables that Coetzee says he'll consider, the truth is that De Waal's match winning prowess gives the side a sense of security, more so at a time when every Currie Cup side believe that WP are there for the taking.
From a playing perspective Grant has the ability to bring out the best of the WP backline, which this season has been disappointing, except for centre Gcobani Bobo who has been impressive.
Best of both worlds
Grant also offers a great deal more on defence and can be relied on to defend his flyhalf channel effectively, something that could not be said of De Waal.
Given the player talent available it would seem the best 10-12-13 combination WP could field would include De Waal, Grant and Bobo.
In recent games Bobo has been effective at inside centre but he could do even better at outside centre, and by fielding Grant at inside centre and playing De Waal at flyhalf, WP can have the best of both worlds.
On Wednesday Coetzee said he had decided to play Dylan des Fountain at outside centre, alongside Bobo. Des Fountain has returned from injury.
The other backline change comes about as a result of a concussion to Tonderai Chavhanga and Joe Pietersen takes his place on the left wing. Pietersen is one of the most underrated players in the province and is equally effective on attack and defence.
In the pack Justin Melck has returned from the side of the scrum to the No 8 position where he has played most of his rugby.
AJ Venter has been moved from the back of the scrum to the blindside flank position.
An interesting inclusion on the bench is Nick Koster, the former Bishops and SA Schools cap, who will provide cover for the loose forwards.
WP have opted to have two props, Brok Harris and Schalk Ferreira, on the bench.
Springboks Brian Mujati (prop) and Schalk Brits (hooker) will take up places in the front row at the expense of Brok Harris and Deon Fourie who has been moved out to the reserves' bench.
- SAPA
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