Collective will won it for WP

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

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  • 51.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:37 am

    @CharlesM-43: Yes there was more mistakes than listed by myself.. and rightly were we to lose it would have been sour grapes… so Listing it after winning even with those mistakes is called for so that people realise complaining about a ref is not always because we lost.. the sometimes is merit in it!

    I could only recall one call going Wp’s way… I think a little forward pass/ knock that was not spotted…

  • 52.stormersboy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:41 am

    @Provvas-51: That’s precisely why I am harping on it too.

    When we got blown out the game (that we probably would have lost anyway) in the Super Rugby final against the Bulls, we were criticized for moaning losers.

    You just can’t win sometimes.

  • 53.stormersboy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:42 am

    Anyway, moving on. reffing case closed. Unless someone opens it again.

  • 54.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:43 am

    @stormersboy-50: Yes it is not so much the Jannie incedent that gets to me, but the standard of referees or rahter lack of consistency…. Both similar incidents should get the same result..

    @capebull-48: It has happened so many times that a ref get calls wrong at scrum time, so hardly ever is it called correctly, Beast also tends to scrum in when the going gets tuff, but does not get nailed for it.. as for Malherbe / Kitshoff.. his opposite number never really binded correctly..

  • 55.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:47 am

    @stormersboy-52: Hehehe yes exactly!

    Moving on: I think Eben will become a legend if managed correctly at Wp.

    I think Keegan has got Luke watson syndrome and thinks he is owed something… that hand off probably served him well to get back to earth and play the way he did in SR.

    I think Krusty as our Fullback for the boks is a crime!! How people think he is solid is good enough is beyond me.. he offers nothing and is as predictable as Hm gameplan…

    Wp coaches correctly acknowledged their total defensive gameplan is flawed and instantly saw succes with new ideas in CC

  • 56.wnbb: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:48 am

    Fair play to Sharks bloggers on Sharksworld who admitted to Peyper favouring them.

  • 57.capebull: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:48 am

    @stormersboy-52: @Provvas-54: I know the feeling even if you win , you are still losers. But I said before WP Jou Lekka Ding . Enjoy the win after 11 years , its good to have you back. But I am still a Bull, just hope the can also re-invent themselves.

  • 58.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:51 am

    So after it all… it gives me great pleasure to name the “real” bok team for year end squad:

    15. Jaco taute
    14. JPP
    13. Juan de jong
    12. Jean De Villiers
    11. Raymond rhule
    10. Skilferkop Lambie
    9. Francois Hougaard
    8. Duane “the Rock” Vermeulen
    7. Willem Alberts
    6. Francois Louw
    5. Juandre Kruger
    4. Eben Etzebeth
    3. Jannie althoug reluctantly
    2. Adrian Strauss
    1. Beast

  • 59.gunther: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:51 am

    All I can say is that I’m glad Province won.

    If they had lost the moaning from you girls would have been apocalyptic.

  • 60.capebull: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:52 am

    @Provvas-55: Chikkio is there not because his the best.

    15 Chikko, Aplon ??
    14 Jp
    13 Juan
    12 JdV
    11 Rhule
    10 Lambie
    9 Jano
    8 Arno
    7 Alberts ???
    6 Flo if he’s not injured , Fourie , Marcell is not fetcher
    5 Kruger
    4 Eben
    3 Jannie
    2 Chilly / Straus
    1 Gurthro / Beast

  • 61.capebull: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:53 am

    @Provvas-58: Did you mean to spell rock or knock on ?

  • 62.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:55 am

    @capebull-57: I dont wanna upset you but I personally think the Bulls have problems…. They are buying talent instead of using their own Hardebaard Bulle manne..
    a guy like Sadie or JJ will never get the culture of being a bull..

    More of the Fourie and Victor types are needed to lift the team…

    and lastly, Pine is not the man to take the bulls to greater heights… rather spend that well deserved money made from SR titles on a decent coach… Jimmy Stonehouse comes to mind…

  • 63.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:57 am

    @capebull-61: :) Duane is the Rock!! So trots soos n rots ek kan kots…

  • 64.Finfan: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:57 am

    Congratulations Province – well played! And the WP / Stormers fans are positive for a change – very refreshing ;) Just as well the Sharks didn’t manage to score in the final seconds of the game :)

  • 65.katman: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 10:58 am

    @Provvas-36: Really? Did I? Kindly post the relevant passages. Or shut the fck up.

    Thank you.

    P.S. This moaning like an unpaid rentboy is most undignified. Particularly since you won. Don’t do it.

  • 66.katman: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:00 am

    @Stawm-40: That’s the problem with having an emotional investment: you just count on the one side. But don’t worry – everyone does it.

  • 67.Hoops: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:07 am

    Ok here is my ref rant….poeper was awed by crowd and tried to please them….clearly from making call from 40m when it was clear to see no knock on….and the media hype over sharks scrum was laughable at least,…..first scrum the sharks got shoved 2 m back and owen nkumane says.’ Great scrum from the Sharks!” WTF was he watching! It was so hyped the whole week that no other outcome in scrums was possible for WP!

    Enough of that….just hope the ref get bad review and have some time to think what he did before he blows another final!

    Reasons this win was so good…..

    1. Sharks had full strength team…no b team excuses
    2. WP had young team with no hope from no one!
    3. Sharks got outplayed proper on the day.
    4. Keegan was brought back to earth!
    5. Eben showed why he will be better than Bekker ever dreamed of!
    6. Size did not matter and HM big man mentality was shown up!
    7. All the trofee jokes are now old or meant for Bulls supporters!
    8.It was done in the Sharks back yard!
    9. At last a SA coach beat a NZ coach!
    10. Because WP will now move on and become much more rounded side!

  • 68.stormersboy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:10 am

    @capebull-57: Ja we are (obviously) chuffed.

    Bulls were semi-finalists and away losers so you will get there, sooner rather than later I suspect. You struggled here and there this year with consistency, but you are blooding a young team that took a major knock with the moving/retirement of several legends of the game(Bakkies/Vic/Danie/FDP/Gurthro/WO) coupled with some injuries in key areas (Chilli/Steggman/Sadie/Slangkos) so with that in mind I have no doubt that the youngsters who faced a tough time this year will be better next year.

    Guys like Arno, Kruger, Potgieter, JJ, Jurgens, Kirsten will get better and better, and if players like Slangkos and Steggies can play most of a full season they will be bok contenders again.

    So the Bulls will be back, of that I have no doubt.

  • 69.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:10 am

    @katman-65: Its gonna take while going throught that 900 comment thread.. but hey.. why not….

    Sour grapes man sour grapes is all I read in your post just like your coach had them after Wp beat his clueless lions!!

  • 70.wp. winning nothing never looked so easy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:12 am

    well done, mooi gedoen wpians.

    ek’s bly julle is trots.

    jou span het mooi gespeel ek moet se en almal van die wpians was plesierig by die tank voordat hulle bietjie gesuip geraak het.

  • 71.wp. winning nothing never looked so easy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:14 am

    maar ek bly ‘n haai ok?

    so moenie jou maniere hier kom wys asseblief.

  • 72.Zandberg Jansen: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:15 am

    @wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-70: Dankie. :)
    Ek hou daarvan as iemand dit soos n man kan vat!

  • 73.katman: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:18 am

    @Provvas-69: I honestly had no preference for who won. But the collective wobbly thrown by the Province bloggers for the first half of the match was enough to help me decide. It was pitiful, to put it mildly.

  • 74.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:18 am

    191.katman said:
    27 Oct 2012, 18:31 pm
    Come on, Peyper has been all WP for the last half hour. Surely these Province girls see this too?

    199.David said:
    27 Oct 2012, 18:35 pm
    @katman-191:
    Now, take your own advice, and stop criticising the ref.

    206.katman said:
    27 Oct 2012, 18:36 pm
    @David-199: I’m not. I think he’s been good. But the 50 50 calls have gone WP’s way for a while now.

    214.katman said:
    27 Oct 2012, 18:37 pm
    @mikeybrass-205: Relax bud. He’s letting you win now. The war is over.

    Wanna have more of STFU HUMBLE PIE!!??

  • 75.wp. winning nothing never looked so easy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:18 am

    are the wpians seriously whining about the ref?

    no man, dis die rede julle celebrate alleen brokebacks.

    hou op suurgatte te wees asseblief, jou span het gewen, geniet dit net.

  • 76.wp. winning nothing never looked so easy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:21 am

    @Zandberg Jansen-72: plesier ou grote, ek was teleurgesteld maar die wpians sou ‘n hart aanval gehad sonder ‘n trophie vir nog ‘n jaar so eks eintlik gelukkig.

    geniet dit, ons sharkies weet mooi hoe lekker proe die bier na so ‘n wedstyd.

  • 77.capebull: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:21 am

    @Provvas-62: No we know Bulls have problems , I think they must use Nollis Marais 0/21 coach , he won Varsity Cup as well.

    The 0/21 won the league with 8 points clear scored most tries and had best defence.

  • 78.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:22 am

    @katman-73: You see Katman when the emotion takes over from the loss your team received when also in the semi Wp were given no chance… your red and white glasses were solid on when viewing the game.. go and read up on Stormers boy commnet on the blatant mistakes made by Peyper… like I said.. even Bulls and Shakrs fans admitted to him makinf mistakes…

    Live with it!!

  • 79.katman: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:24 am

    @Provvas-74: LOL, is that it? I thought you were going to haul out some evidence of me bitching about the ref in the Lions game, because that’s what you alluded to.

    This little quoting exercise of yours is futile as it simply shows that I was right all along – the ref favoured no one. For a while the 50 50 calls when the Sharks’ way, and then they seemed to start going the other way.

    This is not bias or cheating, by the way. It’s simply the result of having a human ref, a tightly contested game and some very emotional fans.

    P.S. 50/50 calls are exactly that – they could go either way without becoming material evidence of some conspiracy. It feels like this needs to be explained to you.

  • 80.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:24 am

    @wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-76: What is that from losing now 3 finals in a row? 2 CC and a Sr final?

    Not gonna open the ref debate here again!! He made mistakes as clear as daylight and because we won does not change that!!

  • 81.stormersboy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:25 am

    OK so what is the best way to cook a Shark????

    A: Over a HAAI heat!

    :D

  • 82.The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:25 am

    Ok folk, be honest. How many of you have got Juan face-palming the Christian Cullen of loosies as their screen saver/desktop background this morning?
    I have :)

  • 83.wp. winning nothing never looked so easy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:26 am

    @Provvas-78: you sound like your team lost provvas.

    jy moet bietjie leer geniet man, wp is nou saam met die cheetahs, lions, bulls en sharks in die curriebeker wensirkel.

    maar julle issie Johnny come latelies hier so hou jou bek, dissie die klein swembad nie meer nie.

  • 84.stormersboy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:27 am

    @The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-82: Totally have,

    With him doing the gangnam style dance after.

    Jammer meneer maar die bus is vol!

  • 85.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:28 am

    @katman-79: Hahahah you mention the lions game and then defend your post in the next.. so you clearly knew what game I was talking about Katman!!
    I think most decent bloggers on here will realise you meant the ref favoured Wp in the second half.. and that last comment? He is winning it for us? Talk about Sour grapes… You will obviously defend your futile attempt to not give any credit to Wp until the end.. thats fine.. the CC is in the Cape and that is all that matters…. along with the u19 cup, the vodacom cup and the C|onference cup….

    BOOM!!

  • 86.wp. winning nothing never looked so easy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:29 am

    @Provvas-80: om ‘n finaal te verloor moet jy daar wees pellie.

    you guys must stop sounding so surprised at a trophy win, it is an injustice to your 100 year history.

    hoekom het julle so ‘n inferiority complex?

  • 87.The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:30 am

    @stormersboy-84: :) Glad it’s not only me and my circle of trust doing the ‘desktop gloating thing’ this morning…..

  • 88.charo: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:30 am

    was i the only one who cringed at the bob ‘n matt commentary show?

    so much of one-eyed emotion.

    chemical ali would have been proud.

  • 89.H: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:31 am

    A fitting final between the two best teams by far. The #3 team (Bulls) would have been smashed yet again in Durban.

  • 90.Dazzler: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:31 am

    @The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-82:

    I would… if I had the image! Where’d you get it?

  • 91.wp. winning nothing never looked so easy: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:32 am

    ok, ek moet my nic nou verander.

    ek was seker dit sou vir ‘n dekade of so verder hou maar die wpians het anders gedink.

    weereens, mooi gedoen wpians en geniet dit wpian ondersteuners.

  • 92.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:32 am

    @wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-83: explain? How many titles have the sharks got? 6 in total?
    An Wp?

    Ok lets do it they way you would prefer… from 1990 – 2000 how many did the sharks win and how many Wp?

    from 2000 – 2010.. how many dic the sharks win and how many Wp?

    from 2010 – 2012?? See the resultks here?

    No no Wp have always been in the big pool my friend.. Saturday just confirmed it!

    As for SR titles… only the Bulls have that honour… Not Wp NOR the SAAAKS

  • 93.KWAGGA ROBERTSE: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:32 am

    @Provvas-58: De Jong? The oke has one moment of shining light and all of the sudden he supersedes all else before him? Nee fokkit. Super Rugby at best for him. Maybe HM will like his ‘dancing with the stars’ routine and have him tag along as part of the warm up personel.

  • 94.gunther: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:33 am

    @The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food-82:

    I suppose that’s as a good a reason not to do any work as any.

  • 95.katman: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:33 am

    @H-89: Ha ha, the two best teams by far? How come Province only sneaked a semi win in the very last minute against the Lions? And they finished behind them on the log. How does that put the Sharks and WP “far” ahead of the rest?

    Should be an interesting exercise in spin.

  • 96.KWAGGA ROBERTSE: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:34 am

    @charo-88: Never listen to those two idiots. Between the two of them the commentary box must be a mess with snot en kak en hare after a game

  • 97.wnbb: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:35 am

    After last Saturday’s win, my other highlight was the WP pack peosklapping the lions pack for 20 metres on their way to the tryline.

  • 98.Provvas: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:35 am

    @wp. winning nothing never looked so easy-86: moes 11 jaar wag weer vir n beker!! So ons geniet hom nou!

    Wel ons het hom al 32/33 keer gewen in ons ryke history… baie meer as die sharks en bulls combined … ou pellie…

  • 99.katman: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:36 am

    @wnbb-97: Kak man, your highlight was the leaflet the SPCA dropped in your mailbox with pictures of sad little doggies looking for homes. Sies man.

  • 100.KWAGGA ROBERTSE: Reply to this comment
    29 Oct 2012, 11:39 am

    @Provvas-98: Julle like daai ou stat darem vreeslik.

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