Coetzee backs rookie for final
24 Oct 2012
WP coach Allister Coetzee has selected Damian de Allende at No 12 for Saturday’s Currie Cup final against the Sharks.
De Allende replaces Marcel Brache in this crucial position; the first time he will partner Juan de Jongh in midfield. This is the only change made by Coetzee following last week’s semi-final win against the Golden Lions.
A season-ending injury to Ederies Arendse allowed De Allende to come into the squad, and a string of strong performances eventually saw him securing a starting berth on the wing during the latter half of the season.
Coetzee feels that the powerful player is good enough to start at No 12 in the most important game of the Currie Cup season. It’s clear that the slightly-built Brache does not fit the requirement for a clash of this nature.
‘Marcel will still have a job to do from the bench, but we’ve gone with Damian to start because we need somebody who can front up physically in that position,’ said the Province coach.
‘He has explosive pace and is a good ball carrier. He has good core skills and is a solid defender. Whenever he has played for us, he has made a massive impression. He did that again last week; his contribution was telling.’
Coetzee doesn’t feel that the fact that De Allende hasn’t played at No 12 at this level will count against him. De Allende’s inexperience is also not viewed as a shortcoming.
‘The conditions underfoot will be heavy, and Damian is the player we need for these conditions. He’s young but he’s good enough to be handed this opportunity.
‘He has played in that position for the WP U21s before. He will also have some experienced players around him like Juan and Bryan Habana. Damian knows what’s required of him in that position, he knows our systems having been involved for some time.’
Gio Aplon is retained at fullback despite the superior kicking game of Joe Pietersen. Coetzee explained that it would help to have Aplon’s left boot complementing Demetri Catrakilis’s right in what should be a big tussle for territory.
Former Springbok prop Deon Carstens and provincial veteran Brok Harris are also named on the bench, with younger front rowers in Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff backed to start. The WP coaches are hoping that this will allow the team to finish strongly.
Western Province – 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Don Armand, 6 Deon Fourie (c), 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Deon Carstens, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Marcel Brache, 22 Joe Pietersen.
By Jon Cardinelli
151 Comments
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24 Oct 2012, 13:10 pm
De Allende dragons.
Bold call.
24 Oct 2012, 13:12 pm
Good team nice to see youngsters being backed still. De Allende did well when he came on last week. My question, should JP Du Plessis have been picked after strong season?
Who will make the Stormers 30 man squad? De Allende, Brache or Du Plessis
24 Oct 2012, 13:13 pm
Big call.
24 Oct 2012, 13:13 pm
Was worried he’d start Pietersen or Brache. Just the lineup I wanted to see! Agreed that JP du Plessis at least deserves a spot in the squad ahead of Brache.
24 Oct 2012, 13:14 pm
Sharks will certainly target that 10/12 axis with Alberts et al.
24 Oct 2012, 13:19 pm
De Allende is a good call I reckon. Very good call.
24 Oct 2012, 13:33 pm
Was always on the cards. Not that he’d pick de Allende, but that he would not pick Brache. Unfortunately Brache’s ceiling is vodacom cup. His temperament is suspect and his execution inconsistent. I’d have picked JP du Plessis, but i suspect AC is looking for a 3-0 type victory by picking de Allende
24 Oct 2012, 13:33 pm
Aplon
vd Heever
JDJ
Habana
Vermuelen
Fourie
Etsebeth
Kitshoff
Dangerous the lot of them.
24 Oct 2012, 13:34 pm
@willievz-5: That would’ve been the plan, but AC threw a bit of a curveball. They might stilll attack that channel, but might not get as much change out of it had Brache played.
24 Oct 2012, 13:41 pm
@pompies2-9: Correct. That is exactly one of the reasons de Allende gets to start. Big, strong, good on defence and actually quite a slippery customer……
He has made a pretty good impact in his outings thus far.
Poor John Dobson though. Our U/21′s cupboard will be rather bare for their final….
24 Oct 2012, 13:52 pm
stormers are gonna get pomped
24 Oct 2012, 13:59 pm
Hoeveel keer het ons al dit gesien. Die beter span op papier maar kom dit by die groot oomblik kan ons dit nie deur haak nie. Hierdie is ‘n baie goeie span , goeie spelers maar die afgelope twee seisoene wonder ek of daar nie weer gekyk moet word na ons afrigting nie. Ons mis net daai x factor elke jaar. Ek glo hierdie span kan die toekoms groot dinge vermag. Kan nie sien hoe ons Saterdag die Sharks op hulle eie veld gaan wen nie. 50/50 kans vir enige span om te wen. Mag die beste span wen.
24 Oct 2012, 14:08 pm
@pompies2-9: Defense is a team effort.
The fact that it is a new combination worries me, but this might be offset if it is wet underfoot, which will slow down phase play and allow defense to realign quicker.
24 Oct 2012, 14:09 pm
@i_love_u_bakkiesbotha-11: Dik gepomp!
24 Oct 2012, 14:09 pm
@Andre_WP-12: Andre ou maat, WP is beslis nie die beter span op papier nie.
24 Oct 2012, 14:13 pm
@willievz-3: I agree with you, this is an enormous call. Should have move JdJ to inside centre with JP du Plessis at outside centre and Allende on the wing in the place of Hekkies.
24 Oct 2012, 14:15 pm
Too many weak links in this Province side. Sharks will be jumping at the bit to get on with this final
24 Oct 2012, 14:15 pm
@BrumbiesBoy-14:
24 Oct 2012, 14:17 pm
2009 was our best year for centres at the Stormers
Jean had not gone to Munster
Jaque had just signed from Lions
We had De Jongh and the underrated Newman as our centre options
Tim Whitehead & Paul Bosch were coming through the ranks and with Brache and Du Plessis in the younger team.
We also had Peter Grant and JJ Engelbrecht to cover
Wow wat depth and what quality of players we lost.
24 Oct 2012, 14:17 pm
@willievz-13: To add to that as we have heard all week, Lamborghini is in top form and could find it easier with opponents not having played together much.
24 Oct 2012, 14:22 pm
@willievz-13: Valid concern, but you’d imagined they trained together for quite a bit throughout the season and probably some trial matches. Additionally defense off primary phases won’t be a problem as this is mostly man-on-man. The concern would be mostly for tertiary phases, but i reckon the defensive structure is pretty flexible and players are interchangeable. It looks like they place emphasis on alignment, rather than man marking.
24 Oct 2012, 14:22 pm
“Coetzee doesn’t feel that the fact that De Allende hasn’t played at No 12 at this level will count against him. De Allende’s inexperience is also not viewed as a shortcoming.”
Don’t then use it as an excuse afterwards if things don’t go our way, Toetie. Bringing in a wing at inside centre for the most importanr game of the season is a big, big gamble. I can understand bringing in some meat to counter guys like Deysel and Alberts in close play but how will this selection affect the defence out wide with a first time partnership between the two centres?
I thought he would bring in Pieters in place of Shadow (after his stupidity last week: intentionally knocking the ball out of play and then not kicking the ball out from the kick off after we had just taken the lead in the 77th minute of the match) and move Aplon to wing.
In any case: GO WEEPEE.
CC CHAMPS for 2012.
24 Oct 2012, 14:28 pm
@nama1-22: He is doing the same thing as HM, playing inexperience players out of position and hopefully he will not lament the fact the guys are inexperience afterwards like HM. Allende would be a better bet on the wing in place of Hekkies with JP du Plessies joining JdJ in the midfield.
24 Oct 2012, 14:34 pm
@pompies2-21:
In tertiary phases you should certainly give extra attention to your spacing and alignment, especially if tight forwards now comprise a large part of your immediate defensive wall. It is very unnusual for a 10 and 12 to line up next to one another more than 2 phases in a row.
I think the Stormers / WP have been very good in structuring their alignment.
However, given the inexperience of the new 10/12 axis, defense off primary phases might be a big problem, especially the lineout if someone like Alberts steamrollers towards that 10/12 axis.
Let’s see how this pans out. In general, I am glad that SA teams are starting to shake off their conservatism and try these big calls in big games. High risk, high return.
I believe De Allende has been picked primarily for his ball carrying ability – and therefore his attacking ability – rather than being picked as a defensive pawn. Province will be bashing it up on first phase and launch a garryowen or kick for the corners from second phase, and play without the ball.
24 Oct 2012, 14:40 pm
Balls, for the first time this season Coetzee is showing some balls… A coach is defined by his selections, this could be one of those watershed moments in his career… call the man what you may, but the WP/Stormers has featured in the play-off’s of every competition they entered since he has been at the helm, no trophies regrettably, but still, no other province/franchise has even come close to emulating this…
24 Oct 2012, 14:41 pm
@John1976-23:
Yeah, I hate it when coaches do that. Blaming a loss on inexperience when there were other options to begin with and when they were the ones who selected the “inexperienced” players.
Your suggestion re De Allende on the wing with a JdJ/JdP centre combo, makes sense to me.
24 Oct 2012, 14:47 pm
Groom as a starter is a great move.
Groom to outplay Reinach on Saturday. I wonder if that will put him in line for the EOYT? ol::l
24 Oct 2012, 14:50 pm
Sharks by 12.
24 Oct 2012, 14:52 pm
@nama1-27:
Jou kop is so deurmekaar soos jou smilie
24 Oct 2012, 14:52 pm
@thesaint-25:
Jip. As I’ve said before, we’ve been knocking on the door since 2010 now. That door will open sometime and when it does…
WP played 5 finals from 1977-1981 and only shared the cup in 1979 before they eventually won in 1982. The rest, as they say, is history.
24 Oct 2012, 14:55 pm
@nama1-27: Both Groom and Reinach should be selected. Pienaar, Hougaard and Vermaak are all kak.
24 Oct 2012, 14:55 pm
@nama1-27:
Ek hoop dis beter.
24 Oct 2012, 14:57 pm
@Finfan-31:
Two good youngsters coming through at SH but I would first like to see how they perform in Super rugby next year before punting them for the Boks.
24 Oct 2012, 14:59 pm
@nama1-32:
Baie
24 Oct 2012, 15:00 pm
When does Plum announce the Sharks team? Tomorrow?
24 Oct 2012, 15:04 pm
@willievz-24: True. AC might also be banking on their varsity cup combo.
24 Oct 2012, 15:05 pm
@nama1-35:
Yes, the sharks can hold it in a bit longer than other provinces.
No premature ejactateamlasion
24 Oct 2012, 15:05 pm
Since people seem to be getting it wrong, De Allende is a natural centre, not a wing. And he did come at 12 last week and do well there…
24 Oct 2012, 15:06 pm
this is not good for us sharks….
was really hoping brache would stay at 12.
is there a kakker centre in south africa at the moment?
24 Oct 2012, 15:15 pm
@Mr Black-37:
Well, we like to show our hand.
@silent_shadow-38:
The problem people have is that he never started there for this whole season. Yes, he did well last week when he came on as reserve but this time he is going to start. Different ball game.
Hope he does great and score the winning try.
WP to take it by 10…at least.
24 Oct 2012, 15:16 pm
@charo-39: yes, meyer bosman…
24 Oct 2012, 15:16 pm
@charo-39: The only kakker centre in SA is N1 City.
24 Oct 2012, 15:19 pm
@Transformation-41:
entirely predictable
@katman-42:
24 Oct 2012, 15:19 pm
@charo-39: JDV,
thats who i was hoping for to play against Sharks.
24 Oct 2012, 15:20 pm
@katman-42: that’s only because you haven’t been to the mall in kraaifontein
24 Oct 2012, 15:25 pm
@Transformation-41: Andreis Straaus n his coming to iNkumkani, yeses!
24 Oct 2012, 15:26 pm
@mabu-44:
i reckon brache is worse than jdv..
he has this timotei-esque unique ability to pass over two of his team mates to the ballboy.
24 Oct 2012, 15:28 pm
@pompies2-45: Ja, but you know what they say about shopping centres?
If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen a mall.
24 Oct 2012, 15:28 pm
@Transformation-41:
I was thinking of same but then thought I’d rather leave it there. The guys are really sensitive these days.Can’t have Charo also leaving the site.
24 Oct 2012, 15:34 pm
@Transformation-13: Transie , exactly , when the Bulls did not win anything their supporters stayed away immediatly
After 10 years of not winning anything people are still going to Newlands , I am sure once they realise their team has not won anything they will stay away also.
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