Making a Significant Contribution – Featured Durban Blog

He’s been in the system for a few years now and a Springbok ‘veteran’ of 28 Tests, so it’s hard to believe that Marcell Coetzee, a home grown talent of massive proportions, is just 24 years of age.

There’s a certain level of maturity about him and a sign of this is the way he’s picking his battles that is not only about enthusiastically chasing the ball at the breakdown, but showing intelligence in choosing when to try his luck and when not to.

“Each year you learn something new, so experience counts for something,” he explains.

“As a member of this team, like everyone, I’m just striving to do my best,” he admits modestly. As one of the leadership group, he adds that it’s important to lead by example. But unselfishly, his core value is this: “I just one to contribute to the team.”

After matches against what closely resembled the Argentinian national side (the Jaguares), followed by South African super powers in the Stormers then Bulls, this Saturday’s clash against the Crusaders at Growthpoint KINGS PARK, a side brimming with All Blacks, marks four tough, demanding weeks of Vodacom Super Rugby for the Cell C Sharks.

“You could call every Super Rugby match a Test these days, it’s a very tough competition,” he points out. “But the Crusaders do have a history of producing great All Blacks, some truly world class players, so this weekend will bring out a Test match mentality in us. But we go into this game with confidence and composure.”

Commenting on the depth at loose forward, he admits that this “keeps us all on our toes. We have a great bunch of loosies and along with the guys who have been playing we have others ready to step in, like Keegan Daniel and Jean Deysel, who bring heaps of experience.”

With everyone wanting to contribute to the team, this has the added effect (or is it the cause?) of fantastic spirit in the camp. “We have an exceptional culture to be a part of at the moment. We’re in a good place, confidence is growing and everyone is stepping up.”

One man the Cell C Sharks will not have to face on Saturday is the legendary Richie McCaw, but that doesn’t mean the Crusaders are any less of a potent side, even where Richie was all-powerful, at the breakdown.

“McCaw was exceptional and he left a legacy for the youngsters to follow, I don’t expect anything different this weekend at the breakdown. They have a strong focus on that area, whether it’s a prop or lock or loose forward, they have a breakdown mentality.”

With last weekend’s match against the Bulls coming off a short week, Coetzee believes there was an element of fatigue that hopefully won’t be the case against the Crusaders this Saturday.

“The win over the Stormers really took its toll on our bodies and it wasn’t easy with the six day turnaround. But we are not making any excuses.
“We showed great character to fight back from a soft start to almost win the game against the Bulls and we have placed a huge emphasis on starting well this weekend, we can’t chase the game, especially against New Zealand sides.”

The Cell C Sharks came back from a big deficit to draw their Vodacom Super Rugby clash with the Bulls, thanks to a committed second half performance which almost resulted in victory.

As it is, the Cell C Sharks remain the only team in the competition yet to taste defeat, and considering the fact that they have only played one home game of their four fixtures to date, it has been a good start to the season.

In saying that, it hasn’t been easy and for Director of Rugby Gary Gold, a slow start in the game is not ideal.

“We managed to put them under pressure and a position to get the win, but it wasn’t to be,” he said after the match. “I’m really happy with the character and fight shown by the guys to come back, but we can’t start like that and put ourselves on the back foot.

“I thought we were really poor in the first half, I feel that our errors kept the Bulls in the game and I felt by half-time that we hadn’t even fired a shot. But the guys were really committed to sticking in there and fighting back and I’m really happy with that. They not only fought and came back, but also took the lead.”

Gold’s frustration with the errors and not being able to finish off opportunities underlines the high standards the team sets for itself. At the end of the first half, the Cell C Sharks would probably have been delighted if the outcome were a draw, while the Bulls would have been hugely disappointed given their lead at half-time.  But emotions were reversed at the final whistle.

“It was a really tough game but we have to be hard on ourselves with the errors. When we do things well, we’re very effective, but when we make errors, we just let the opposition back into the game.”

While the biggest talking point was the final kick at posts that went wide, Gold threw his support fully behind his flyhalf who has kicked magnificently this season.

“That’s not the issue; there were other critical opportunities that we could have taken that we didn’t, and which might have afforded us a comfortable lead. So it’s particularly unfair to worry about one incident. Remember he kicked an earlier 50m penalty.”

Last week Gold spoke of a new style from the Bulls, one that doesn’t rely so much on the kick and chase. But rather unexpectedly, they reverted to what has worked for them in the past. “What we have been seeing is them running the ball a lot more, but in this game they kicked more and asked questions of us.

“But we need to play the game in the right areas of the field,” he continued. It was a game of two halves and the Cell C Sharks saw very little of the ball in the first half.

Defence was once again up to the task and their 52 points conceded in four games is the second best in the tournament. “The defensive effort was good against a team who asked a lot of questions of us. It was a tough day at the office to stay in the fight and I thought we did well.”

Given the Cell C Sharks successful start to the competition, there is plenty to be optimistic about, but Gold warned that it is still early days.

“Yes, we’re happy, but after what happened last year, we set ourselves high standards. I don’t think we were good enough with ball in hand against the Bulls and when we get into our attacking shape, we should be asking questions of the opposition defence. We need to remain grounded and while we’re disappointed we didn’t come away with the four points, in the big picture, I’m grateful that of the four performances, three have been away from home.

“This is a tough competition and away wins are hard to come by. We’re pretty ok with where we are right now.

“I guess it’s nice to be unbeaten, having not played our best rugby yet, hopefully that’s a positive sign for us. And it’s a lovely incentive to keep working hard.”