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As a long suffering WP fan it was nice to put one over on the Sharks on Saturday.It was cold, it was wet and it was miserable out but at the end of 80 minutes the scoreboard showed that WP had beat the Sharks Currie Cup champions of 2008 by 29 points to 15.
Alot can be said about the game, how the Sharks were without 343 Springboks, how they were playing away etc but lets not forget how for many years people joked how WP cannot play rugby in the rain even though they should be the best at it and more importantly how completely bollocks we’ve been for the last few years.
I’m a fan of the Currie Cup, its what I grew up on, its what my father and my uncles talk and reminisce about, my father’s screams of Prooooooviince still invoke images of a supporter going nuts for his team playing in the Currie Cup but I have never really been able to reach such ecstasy watching the Blue and White hoops playing, in fact every year i’m just about given less and less reason to smile about WP.
When the opening fixtures of the 2009 Currie Cup were announced I was immediately pessimistic,the Sharks, Bulls and Cheetahs in that order did not exactly fill me with any hope for this season and as the massive storm rolled into Cape Town last week so did an impending sense of gloom about what was going to happen at my beloved Newlands.
The thing is, someone forget to tell the scriptwriters how this was supposed to play out, 22488 people braved the wet to support WP and their faith was repaid.Chris Jack, an All Black playing for WP, a province with more All Black supporters than there are people in New Zealand got his first touch of Currie Cup action by charging down a Rory Kocket clearance and then also managed to collect the ball to score a try.Could this be?Could we take it from this early?
The next session of the game saw the Sharks dominate and hope start to fade but again the scriptwriters who must surely have been sipping on Cape Towns finest boxed products sent the story out for The Striped ones to start taking the game back, Anton van Zyl and Chris Jack put some fire in the WP engine room last seen when Freddy Mendez was playing hooker and the loose trio having a field day in the wet.
One moment in the match that kinda summed up the game was when Jean Deysel got tackled by Luke Watson, got put down the wrong way and lost the ball after which Naqelivuki went for a try, its something I can watch over and over again.In one of the other Sharksworld threads the author said give WP credit for the win, it looked like they wanted it more, I think more than that, we really needed it.
After the match, John Plumtree was a broken man, give him a break guys, that loss hurt him.Its not like he just went, ” ag well, we lost, haaties”.He lamented the loss of so many players to the Springbok side but did not use it as his excuse as many other coaches would have, when pressed on using Guy Cronje he said that Cronje was supremely talented and that the youngster deserved his chance and had to be given a go and that he as a coach now knows what areas of Cronjes game to look at.He was however hoping that the Hernandez deal would be tied up soon as it would a huge asset to have an experienced hand to call on.Waylon Murray is also fit and would be back in the squad this weekend.
WP coach Allistair Coetzee was understandably alot happier but was not entirely convinced with his team as in his opinion there were too many incorrect decisions taken such as the kicking the ball to Terblanche and holding onto the ball so long.
Coetzee and Watson could not heap enough praise on Chris Jack, Watson stated that Jacks work ethic bordered on freaky and that he learnt every call in a week and that was for lock and flank if it was required for him to play there.
Coetzee also said that the Currie Cup was more of a marathon than a sprint and nothing was won as yet but from a supporters view it was nice to clear the first hurdle without stumbling.
For once.
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Well written Claytie!!!
Your dad (John Daniels) must be so proud!!
Nice Read, Claytie!! I love the “Sharks were without 343 Springboks”..
yes – I actually read the whole thing!!
@Prof. Ice (Comment 2) : Thank you Ice
well done wp!well played
Dankie Kleytie, still want you to do us one on Pietertjie, think we understand him better then most.
Good news now with Pie Eater in the Bok squad, means Dewaldt will start against the Brutes and Conrad from the bench. Its getting better by the minute.
Rob:
Some big matches coming up at todays Craven Week fixtures:
10:00 – 11:25 Rugby Craven Week: Border CD v SA Lsen
11:25 – 12:45 Rugby Craven Week: EP CD v Leopards
12:45 – 14:05 Rugby Craven Week: Griffons v Limpopo
14:05 – 15:25 Rugby Craven Week: SA Academy v Zimbabwe
15:25 – 16:45 Rugby Craven Week: Boland v Blue Bulls
16:45 – 18:00 Rugby Craven Week: Free State v KZN
You can follow the action live at http://www.SARugby.net click on fixtures and LIVE next to the live matches.
Expecting Boland to down the Brutes today.
The main match Cheetahs A vs B. 
Claytie is hanging around Morne too much, hence the Looooooong article!!
Thanks, enjoyed the article. Good win for WP – and promising to have one of the traditional powerhouses of SA rugby “back”
“Chris Jack put some fire in the WP engine room last seen when Freddy Mendez was playing hooker”
Jeez, have you been waiting that long?
superb arti, Clayts… nice work!
@CapeShark (Comment 8) :
He should have said ‘since Eddie Andrews retired’
@CapeShark (Comment 8) : Erm….JA
Feddie was another one that we spotted first… grumble
Very good article, and your childhood memories of the Currie Cup is something on my wish listb for all kids. I want the CC back at that intensity.
At least Claytie knows not to read too much into one performance unlike the rest of the province supporters and newspaper writers…
@Salmonoid (Comment 13) : as do I… it was fierce and it was just plain awesome.
@CapeShark (Comment 14) : Agreed – crazy headline after one game – WP to go on Cup Run….WTF?
@Worcestershire Sauce (Comment 16) : which of the stooges wrote that one?
@Worcestershire Sauce (Comment 16) : Vooi tog
If we do decide to actually give it a proper go this better be the season,next year we are without Grant and whoever else decides to line their pockets.
@provincejoulekkading (Comment 19) : you figured out yet where he’s going?
@robdylan (Comment 20) : Somewhere in Oz, may not be the Force but one of the teams there.
Not that anyone cares but Paul Delport is off to Japan to do his thing.
@provincejoulekkading (Comment 21) : oh right… what’s up with that Hoffman kid?
@provincejoulekkading (Comment 19) :
And dont forget Lukas either.
@robdylan (Comment 22) : He is over his injury but was nothing special in the VC.In fact, he sucked.
@Salmonoid (Comment 23) : Then theres that.
@provincejoulekkading (Comment 24) : oh really? The Cape media must have had some egg on their faces…
Maybe he gets his form back.
Well there’s always the next great Savior of WP rugby in Nick Koster!!
@wpw (Comment 27) : ah yes… they broke him though… when will he be back?
Now how did I miss this touching article for the whole day?
Nice PJLD! Good to hear the win meant a lot for you guys…see you in Durban for the return match and hopefully the Final as well…
22488 people braved the wet to support WP
I think 488 were there for the Sharks…
Ja it was lekker.
What is not so lekker is that the internet nazis at my place of work has blocked Sharksworld.
How will I fill the hours? 
But I can still access Voldy.
…and Reitzworld
Hectic bru. There must be a way you can still blog on the site… Eish!
maybe I need to set up some sort of innocuous gateway
For those who don’t know what ‘innocuous’ means:
- not harmful or injurious; harmless: an innocuous home remedy.
- not likely to irritate or offend; inoffensive; an innocuous remark.
- not interesting, stimulating, or significant; pallid; insipid: an innocuous novel.
@McLovin (Comment 31) : Cellphone bru
@wpw (Comment 27) :
And Tigger Bax of course.
@Salmonoid (Comment 36) : ah yes… midget league.
The Ebersohns would fit in well in Cape Town
@robdylan (Comment 37) :
@robdylan (Comment 37) :
Does that comment mean that a decision has been reached?
@Salmonoid (Comment 39) : Maybe WP should throw in a ‘cars’ bunk bed into the deal. I think that should do it. They’re mos close.
@robdylan (Comment 37) :
And on that subject, I saw on the news that Gio Aplon has withdrawn himself from the SA Sevens side to stand in foR Province as Joe Pietersen is injured. Not a good move Mr Aplon, they will discard you as soon as they can and they will probably promotr Bax into the team anyway. 7s would also have been fun.
@Salmonoid (Comment 39) : not that I know of… he’s playing for the Cheetahs this weekend.
I’m not sure how aggressively we’ll be chasing him now, given that
1) we seem to have secured Hernandez
and
2) he comes with unnecessary baggage (the less talented brother)
@McLovin (Comment 40) :
Could be a deal clincher, I wonder if Rudi thought of that.
@McLovin (Comment 30) : check your email?
@robdylan (Comment 44) : Just checked thanks. I’m not at work today but will have a good look tomorrow. If I remember correctly it’s because SW is categorized as a ‘games’ site or something.
@McLovin (Comment 45) : yeah – I know that one… there’s a particular content filter that some companies use. It uses an external categorization service that has us listed as a games site. It’s becuse we ran the Fantasy League on Sharksworld itself last year. Part of the reason we now do that on Justrugby, but it’s a little late.
@robdylan (Comment 46) : I see. Thanks for checking it out.
@McLovin (Comment 47) : any chance you can remember the name of the content filter? Websense, or Cyber Patrol, or something like that?
My name is Admin and I am funky!
there’s only one admin!
@robdylan (Comment 48) : Websense.
@McLovin (Comment 51) : we hate websense but are trying a workaround… stand by
@robdylan : Did you change something on FL?
@Admin (Comment 49) :
@Rahul (Comment 53) : we had to rescore the round cos there was a bug… Is that what you mean?
@robdylan (Comment 55) : Ja, this time i climed a few spots
@Rahul (Comment 56) : ok… so good for you!
@robdylan (Comment 55) :
A Bug or no calculator??
@Rahul (Comment 56) :
I dirrint….:-(
@Prof. Ice (Comment 59) : Your way up there!!! you can afford to drop a few
@Prof. Ice (Comment 58) : some of the players that people chose were wrongly added for week 2, not week 1
My spelling sucks today!!!
@Rahul (Comment 62) : the fact that you’ve noticed the mistakes means your typing sucks, not your spelling
@robdylan (Comment 63) :
@robdylan (Comment 63) : and my powers of deduction suck too?
@Rahul (Comment 64) : dude, I just acn’t figure out what your avater is meant to symbolise!
As a age old WP supporter I am pretty glad to see this one on their site. Myself always knew we have the best schoolboy base running around and knew since professional days we need to get our structure sorted out. Well Nick Mallet have started this one and now Rassie only have to built on it and I am pretty sure we can take our place in SARugby like we use to had in Paul Rooses days. We need to hold on to our talent base and coach them to become stars like we had in the past. So cheers to Mallett, sure one hell of a soutie.
WP Rugby Institute starting to deliver stars
The Western Province Rugby Institute at Stellenbosch is starting to fulfil the role of talent provider for the Vodacom WP teams and it was perfectly illustrated by the performance of Juan de Jongh in the Currie Cup match against the Natal Sharks at Newlands on Saturday.
De Jongh, who went on as substitute centre, was dangerous every time he touched the ball and coach Allister Coetzee lauded the youngster after the match.
”Juan de Jongh stood his ground and every time he touched the ball, there is a helluva impact at contact. People will argue that he is a small player, but he was so effective when he carried the ball,” said Coetzee.
“Juan still qualifies to play under-21, and so too does Dewaldt Duvenage. And that is what we are trying to create. Those are the structures that Rassie (Erasmus, senior professional coach) would like to see happening.
“We, as the senior side, and the under-21s work closely together, so that it is not a big jump for players when they get drafted into the senior side. And that is what we are trying to create here at Western Province.”
The exciting De Jongh was quite a sensation for the WP under-19 side and impressed Erasmus so much that he drafted him into the Vodacom Stormers pre-season squad. The player unfortunately sustained a serious injury but is back to full fitness now and ready to live up to the promise he has shown thus far.
Steph Nel from the Institute on Tuesday proudly pointed out that 20 of the 22 players in the WP under-21 squad that beat their Natal counterparts on Saturday are products of the Institute – an indication that these guys are being brought through the correct structures and are being managed successfully with a long term plan in mind that supports that of the professional coaching team.
Nel said De Jongh was the Institute´s first-choice outside centre at under-19 level and said he was still under-21. “He already played for the SA Sevens side and two years ago one already could see he was destined for bigger things.
“I am glad he is over his injury and on Saturday he looked as sharp as before his injury.”
Nel said De Jongh was but one of the players coming from the Institute who are making an impact. “Francois Hougaardt and Stephan Dippenaar played for the Bulls at Super 14 level and people are saying we allowed Hougaardt to go, but they forget we retained De Jongh.
“Stokkies Hanekom played for the SA under-20s and Martin Muller, Tiger Bax and Nic Koster played for the Stormers, so I am happy with what we have been doing during the three years that we have been busy with the Institute.
“One would only be able to gauge our success five years from now but at this stage I would say it is working for us. There are a lot of talented youngsters that we will have a look at in the under-19 competition. The Institute is going from strength to strength.”
@PaarlBok (Comment 67) :
for Boland yesterday, I did read that they only had 14 on the field for most of the game, but still a big score.
Sounds promising, Have you managed to watch the u21 game yet?
@PaarlBok (Comment 67) : I’ve heard of the WP media machine, but this is just ridiculous. De Jongh was completely anonymous on the field on Saturday!
@Salmonoid (Comment 68) : No I havent but I see they picked the same team for saturday against the Brutes.
Boland was pretty strong last year when Schoonspruit from Malmesbury produced most of their players. Schoonspruit was pretty strong then. This year its back to normal. Watch a bit but the Brutes were pretty strong. Watch the Cheetah Shark one and the Sharks sure played well and nearly upset those Grey laaities in white.
De Jongh is a bit small but sure a tricky runner Rob. First time I get any news about the Institute but you’ll see it this year. WP have a strong U21 team and will field also a stroong U19 team. Watch the results.
WP Craven Week team leading the Lions 18-0 at half time and if they win will play in the final on saturday. They look pretty good.
@PaarlBok (Comment 67) : De Jongh looked a bit very slow on Saturday.
@PaarlBok (Comment 70) :
I watched most of the U21 game (with one eye), WP struggled in the scrums but seem to have a classy backline.
I thought Boland would be quiete strong, but that was based on some results where Drostdy beat and pushed some of the big named Cape schools. I dont even know how nany of these guys even made the team.
@provincejoulekkading (Comment 71) : so did everyone else, though… hard to run through water!
@Salmonoid (Comment 72) : I hope our under 21s manage to find another tighthead somewhere…
@robdylan (Comment 74) : sorry – I am a dolt. What’s wrong with Julian Redelinghuys?
@Salmonoid (Comment 72) :
A bit surprise Adriaanse scrummed quite well for Maties in the Varsity Cup.
Also surprise Ruaan Smith dont feature with the U21s but maybe better to start him with the U19s.