Collective will won it for WP
29 Oct 2012
MARK KEOHANE, in his Business Day newspaper column, says Western Province lifted the Currie Cup in Durban because they played as a team.
World Cup-winning coach Jake White was often quoted as saying the 15 best players don’t necessarily make for the best XV. Rugby, White argued, was a team game and he viewed the team as a collective.
Western Province, in beating the Sharks in the Currie Cup final in Durban, won it with a team effort. Individuals were inspirational, but it was the collective will of the team that saw them overturn a 12-3 deficit to win the title for the first time in 11 years.
Springbok and Bulls legend Victor Matfield, in summary of Province’s last minute semi-final win against the Lions a week earlier, suggested the 20m rolling maul was massive in the context of the team dynamic and that it could finally see Province turn individual potential into team reward.
There has always been a feeling among players up north that the delights of playing for Western Province (and the Stormers in Super Rugby) give players a celebrity like status in Cape Town and that the individual often stands taller than any team collective.
Brilliant individuals played for Province and the Stormers in the last decade but as a team they always fell short of success in the Currie Cup and Super Rugby. Something always seemed to be missing and Matfield felt the way this Province team worked for the win against the Lions and the way eight forwards worked in unison and refused to be beaten in the last minute of the game was something he had not seen from a Province team.
Just maybe, said Matfield, this is the start of something special.
Just maybe it is because the semi-final was not won on individual brilliance and neither was the final. Sure there inspiring individual performances, especially from lock Eben Etzebeth, but the most inspiring aspect was how the players believed in each other and played with the cohesion of players who believed that to win it they had to believe in the qualities of their team-mates.
Province were underdogs and not expected to win so they also had an advantage in that there wasn’t expectation. It does make a final easier when so few anticipate victory, even if so many hope for the victory.
The Sharks were expected to win. Their match 22 had superior pedigree. They demolished the Bulls in the semi-final and they were playing at home.
Their players also expected to win and if anything mentally they didn’t give the final the necessary respect. They will dispute this but they played like a team who believed the opposition wasn’t good enough to win. I’d argue their focus was wrongly on who they were playing instead of the fact that they were playing in a final.
The intensity and edge needed to compete and win a final wasn’t there from the Sharks. All the edge came from the visitors.
Supporters will ask how is it possible not to pitch for a final? It’s certainly not through a lack of desire. Experienced coaches always warn of the danger of players being too hyped in their preparation and mentally playing the game in the week and being drained come match day. This wasn’t one of those occasions because there wouldn’t have been doubt within the Sharks camp that they could be successful.
The Sharks coaches would have feared complacency, but no matter the caution a player has to believe he could lose if he is to ensure he doesn’t. I just don’t think it ever occurred to the Sharks players they could lose and sport continues to produces finals in which the overwhelming favourites get done in a one-off because the desire to win is not matched by the fear of potentially losing.
The better team on the day won and it’s hard to argue with a result that goes to the team that gets it right. Province got it right in the final. They deserve every ovation for the performance.
I also think Bok coach Heyneke Meyer and his selectors deserve applause for being bold enough to select London-based Saracens hooker Schalk Brits in the Bok squad.
It sends a positive message that if you play well enough you will get selected, regardless of where you are based or how old you are.
Brits has played well enough, especially in the last two seasons. Equally so the Toulouse-based former Bulls prop Gurthro Steenkamp, who is another deserving national call-up.
659 Comments
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 14 » Show All
29 Oct 2012, 09:39 am
Gestreepte dragons
29 Oct 2012, 09:42 am
Congrats to our WP contingent on this site. Hurt like hell to watch that little sh it lift the trophy but when all is said and done I salute you all.
29 Oct 2012, 09:45 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-2: Thanks, but we didn’t play the game, and so deserve no credit.
Doesn’t mean we won’t enjoy the victory though.
29 Oct 2012, 09:50 am
@stormersboy-3: This is the thing!! The players sometimes dont realise that we as supporters go through every bit of heart ache with each and every loss they experience.. so it is only fitting we enjoy the little bit if celebration after 11 years of hell…
Wp jou lekke ding
29 Oct 2012, 09:53 am
I blame the Sharks. It was their game to lose, and they duly did so.
29 Oct 2012, 09:54 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-2: That little $h!@ kicked the sharks right where it hurts! Possession!
Why did the sharks loose? Simple; “Pride comes before a fall.” Or in other words, “Windgat beland jou in die sinkgat!”
29 Oct 2012, 09:54 am
It’s great to be a ‘province’ fan on this Monday morning!Natural order in SA rugby has been restored as well.
29 Oct 2012, 09:54 am
@Tacitus-5: Blame the WP, they won it, the sharks got outplayed, pure and simple.
29 Oct 2012, 09:55 am
All i can say is, I am so proud of the Province team, they proved everyone wrong, including myself, who had the Sharks down for a record win.. Embarrassed to call myself a Province supporter, but glad i am one this morning.
29 Oct 2012, 09:56 am
@goodstuff-8:
Why is it that the Sharks can work themselves up into a frenzy of collission domination and physicality when they face the Bulls, but often put in such deflated performances against the Cape Tonians?
29 Oct 2012, 09:57 am
Watch the game again last night. Stormers defence was great. Alberts , Petersen, etc got nowhere. Each time there was 2 tacklers. as surprised with Catrikilis & Groom’s tackling.
They just tackled low and the big guys fall. Groom’s service was a bit slow for me.
The forwards did protect the ball magnificently, each time there was one or two guys to protect the ball carrier. Sharks had no chance to get turnovers.
Sharks scrums were better and their line kicking but lineouts was just terrible.
29 Oct 2012, 09:58 am
Congrats… WP jou lekka ding
Eben played like I was hoping him to play all year , he ruled the line outs
29 Oct 2012, 09:59 am
And so we have done it in style ekse ! almal het ons afgeskryf ! Wel dit wou gedoen wees. Hierdie span kan net van krag tot krag gaan. Geluk my WP supporters !
29 Oct 2012, 10:00 am
Proper Fetcher and Lineouts the difference.
29 Oct 2012, 10:02 am
and a Naas Botha standard flyhalf! does Dimitri ever have a bad day with the boot? take notes Elton, Steyn & Carter!
29 Oct 2012, 10:05 am
@Tacitus-5: Tac like the Media, you just seem to follow the herd and chant the mantra… Sharks have better scrum .. sharks have better team on paper.. sharks have more boks… yadda yadda yadda….
In the first scrum of the game beast got shafted and put his hand on the ground.. no penalty..
Another scrum later the scrum collapses clearly due to sharks scrumming in, but gets reset… next scrum penalty to the Sharks….. I believe our frontrow were not all that overshadowed by the sharks frontrow.. it is a perception that will quickly change next season.. just look at the game at the latter stages when we even got a tighthead!!
As for Jannie: He is a vuilgat that should have received exactly the same treatment as the Ep Kings player for throwing a punch! But no the Doc get Two FINAL warnings… must be becasue it is a final I guess…. Let say Schalk tackled someone without using arms.. or Butch for that matter… will he not get a yellow?
A punch is a punch and it certainly was worse than the penalty that gor reversed in the Semi for Deons Handbag stuff on the lions skipper..
29 Oct 2012, 10:06 am
@Tacitus-10: Rubbish.The Sharks dominated WP/Stormers all season.
29 Oct 2012, 10:08 am
@capebull-12: Thanx Capebull!!@Tacitus-5: So no congrats to Province then ?
@stormersboy-14: Yes and Eben ended Burden’s hope of joining the EOYT !!
29 Oct 2012, 10:09 am
@stormersboy-14:
One can only hope Heyneke has now seen the light and Brussow comes back into the fold eventually.
29 Oct 2012, 10:12 am
@CharlesM-18: To be fair, the only people who were calling for Burden to be included were (mostly) those same people who couldn’t understand why Keegan Daniel wasn’t Springbok Captain and Premier of KZN.
29 Oct 2012, 10:13 am
@CharlesM-18:
As well as Anton “Has To Be a Bok” Bresler.
29 Oct 2012, 10:14 am
@Provvas-16:
If you think that was a punch you need to hardenthefuckup big boy.
29 Oct 2012, 10:14 am
@WP-Forever-19: Although I wouldn’t drop Flo for him, I would have 2 fetchers in the squad, so both then.
29 Oct 2012, 10:14 am
@stormersboy-20:
Hehe.
But isn’t Deon Fourie the Keegan Daniel of the Cape?
He falls into the same “too small for the Boks” category.
29 Oct 2012, 10:15 am
@gunther-22: Ja Gio gets worse than that from his auntie on Saturday evening.
29 Oct 2012, 10:16 am
@Tacitus-10: I have to dissagree, one of their best performances this year was against the Stormers during the SR SF.
The sharks didn’t play poor, I just think the WP defence was better than the Sharks attack and the WP attack was better than the Sharks defence.
Key areas of the game weighed in percentage:
Scrums – 80% Sharks dominance
Lineouts – 80% WP dominance
Defence 70% WP
Attack 60% WP
Kicking 50/50 but the two DG’s could make 60% WP.
Turnovers 80% WP Fourie and company dominated this area.
Gainline 70% Sharks
Counter attack 80% Sharks
Finishing 80% WP
BMT 80% WP
29 Oct 2012, 10:16 am
@Andre_WP-13: The feeling is soooooooo sweeeeeeet !!!
Has that “wp.winning never looked this easy” surfaced yet ? I suppose he’ll just disappear from the site: like I told him: “hoogmoed kom voor die val” – rather be modest in your comments and leave the talk about “bring the Vaseline along to the Shark tank” etc out of your comments.
Thanks again to those anti Province players who could still say “well done to Province” I know it hurts to say it – we have been there for too long !!
Well done AC and the boys !!
29 Oct 2012, 10:18 am
@stormersboy-23: With Flo injured we are in trouble. Brussow is still injured as well@WP-Forever-21: Yes, he was nowhere on Saturday
29 Oct 2012, 10:19 am
@stormersboy-25:
Even the two Province cheerleaders in the commentary box couldn’t bring themselves to call is a slap when they saw the replay.
Skinner was lost for words for once after calling for a card!
29 Oct 2012, 10:19 am
@Tacitus-24: I think that it’s important to have a fetcher in the team, something that Deon seems to have done really well this season.
I would never pick him as a hooker as his technicals are way too weak.
As a 6? Not yet, I would like to see how he goes against the international opposition in the Super Comp next year. That will give me some idea of whether he is good enough. Flo is 1 for now, Heinrich 2, and Stegman 3. Assuming all are fit.
Daniel ironically, showed exactly whey he wasn’t good enough in the Super comp this year. He was close to the top of the list of most tackles missed for much of the season.
29 Oct 2012, 10:19 am
@Provvas-16: Get over yourself. The ref was fine. But all the province girls got their panties in a twist because the opening 20 minutes did not bode well, and started blaming the ref and the crowd and the weather and whatnot. Most of them calmed the fck down when they started winning, but some of you are still fighting the war like some old Japanese soldier on a Pacific island. It’s over – you can come out now.
29 Oct 2012, 10:20 am
@CharlesM-28: Correct. Although if Flo goes down I would put money on Deon getting a call to hop on a plane…
I wonder if he’s been told to not slack off and keep training.
29 Oct 2012, 10:21 am
@gunther-22: No That punch was as potent as the sharks attack all day… nowhere!! But what grieved me was the intent! Had he landed it better on Gio’s face, what whould the result have been? it is about his intent to punch… it is not up to the TV ref to decide that he punches like a moffie….
Were it say Greyling giving that punch, the decision would have been different….
29 Oct 2012, 10:21 am
@gunther-29: ja, that call was 100% correct, no issue with it.
There were some shocking ones though, but that wasn’t one of them.
29 Oct 2012, 10:23 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE-2: Hurt the guppie fans even more to see Fat spermwhale Vermeulen, Brokeback Harris and ‘whothefuckisdeAllende’ holding that cup high
(whilst, super’MUST BE BOKS’ like Keegan, Ludik, Bresler, Reinach and co stood obediently in the corner slukking their Kool Aid)
29 Oct 2012, 10:25 am
@katman-31: Katman I recall you also blamed the ref in the second half when things went pearshaped for you and your coach Ackermann… great predictions there bud….
And every single person at my work today.. Sharks, Bulls Cheetahs all say even Jaco Could get in the way of the Wp victory… So stop trying to make it out as if Jaco Did not have a **** game.
1. Beast hand on the ground in the fisrt scrum.. no penalty
2. Not rolling away penalty but never against the sharks for same infringement
3. JPP Pietersen Knock not spotted.
4. Joe Pietersen Knock that was never a knock.
5. Sharks being offside everytime wp get in their 22m…
No sir, you are the weakest link goodbye!
29 Oct 2012, 10:26 am
@CharlesM-27: I said it before , Strompies played terrible defence game in S15
Bulls played terible kicking game is S15
Wp moved on , Bulls did not , Wp has CC Bulls has kicking game.
29 Oct 2012, 10:26 am
@katman-31: No Katman the ref was poor!! He made a lot of mistakes which we discussed yesterday. I am not going to repeat them. Fortunately it did not cost us the game
29 Oct 2012, 10:26 am
@Tacitus-10:
So let me get this right. Yet again, the WP/Stormers team have won a game not due to their efforts, but rather due to their oppositions failures?
Your sourness runs deep.
29 Oct 2012, 10:28 am
@katman-31:
Dont talk cr@p man.
I stopped counting the refs mistakes after the 7th mistake he made. They were blatantly obvious mistakes, there for all to see, even suurgat viewers like yourself.
29 Oct 2012, 10:29 am
@Provvas-36: And the skew throw-in that went over the top and was knocked on by Scarra. It should have been a WP scrum, not a Sharks one. From that scrum the Sharks got a penalty and Lambie slotted a 3 pointer.
I would say that at least 6, if not 9 points came from not just bad, but blatantly incorrect calls.
As Pissant said, the moment was too big for them.
29 Oct 2012, 10:29 am
@stormersboy-34: Did you watch the Ep kings game?? Did you see the red card in that game? Ebersohn bleeded from his own player colliding into him.. but so the TV ref gave a recommendation for red… the punch was similar to the one from Jannie.. you could see *****…
29 Oct 2012, 10:29 am
@Provvas-36: And the knock from Scarra after Burden’s skew throw that landed 2 metres on the Sharks’ side. There was no advantage – Sharks got the scrum feed and a penalty at the scrum which Lambie converted into 3 points
29 Oct 2012, 10:30 am
@stormersboy-41: Okay we posted the same one – just goes to show how obvious it was. Sour grapes from Katman!!
29 Oct 2012, 10:31 am
Eben got banned for kissing an ozzie head, for peets sake…
The intention was there so yes handbags but intentional…
29 Oct 2012, 10:33 am
@Provvas-33:
call it a shove would be pushing it.
you’ve clearly never seen a punch.
29 Oct 2012, 10:33 am
I’m out for the morning
Happy 21st birthday today Eben !!! I said it yesterday, if he is managed correctly, he can play 100 + matches for the Boks; actually 130 +
29 Oct 2012, 10:35 am
@Provvas-36: Provvas , refs make mistakes , you still have top play regardsless.
It seems the hand on floor does not get blown the same as in S15. I would have given a penaltie to Sharks for the scrum before Juan scored , go and look at reply , Mal-herbie (34min) has fallen flat on his face inside below hooker.
Sharks started strong , Wp came back and Wp ended strong , thats why they won it.
Why can’t a Jannie play 80min ?? We have a serious problem at 3, the momentum for Sharks was lost in scrums when he left. Wp ruled the line outs , resulting in Sharkies not kicking out.
I thought Eben, Fourie , Scarra and Die Griek was great, with Juan not far behind
Only player that did not perform was Vermeulen , he did nothing 1 st halve , and very little second halve.
29 Oct 2012, 10:36 am
Babalas was nog nooit so lekker gewees nie. Dankie WP.
To the Sharks, hard lines.
“Nag ou Groote”
29 Oct 2012, 10:36 am
@Provvas-42: I actually didn’t see that card.
Look, Jannie got away with more than he should have, but that sort of thing is always interpretive, not like missing hands on the ground in the scrum or the other stuff that’s been listed above.
I was more annoyed about the other 5 or 6 bad calls than that one.
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 14 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.