WP lose Coleman to fractured jaw
by Gavin Rich 17 September 2012, 20:40
Western Province, already sweating on Tuesday’s disciplinary hearing involving loose-forwards Jebb Sinclair and Tyrone Holmes, have had their woes added to by the news that reserve flyhalf/fullback Kurt Coleman has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Coach Allister Coetzee confirmed on Monday afternoon that Coleman was diagnosed with a fractured jaw following a collision in last Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup match against the Sharks in Durban.
“Kurt is going to undergo an operation on Wednesday and will be out for the rest of the season,” said Coetzee.
Although Coleman was not in the starting team, his injury does complicate matters for Coetzee, who is busy trying to make up his mind whether to stick with Demetri Catrakilis as one of his flyhalves for next season or let him take up an offer from the Southern Kings. Gary van Aswegen will probably get his chance by playing off the bench against Griquas at Newlands on Saturday.
Flyhalf is of course not WP’s main problem at the moment. While last year the No 10s were the players who seemed to hit bad luck every week, this season it has been the looseforwards, although Coetzee wasn’t going to be duped into ascribing the incidents that saw Sinclair and Holmes red carded in Durban to luck.
“The players let their emotions get the better of them and we will wait for Tuesday’s South African Rugby Union disciplinary hearing before deciding what action to take internally. Players who are yellow carded are automatically fined but when it comes to red cards it is different. Both guys apologised to the team immediately after the game and they realised they let their teammates down.”
Coetzee appears to be fearing the worst from the Tuesday disciplinary hearing as he has called out a raft of loose-forwards for training.
However, there is a chance he will select his loose-forward replacements from within the squad should Holmes and Sinclair be suspended and forced to miss the Griquas match.
“Don Armand has of course played on the flank so we may opt to play him there to avoid having to bring in new players who have to get used to our systems. It is a bit of a juggling act though because our tight five has been working well and taking Don out of that mix might be a risk as he has been good for us at lock.”
The good news for WP supporters is that Nick Koster may soon be back in action. The No 8 has been making progress in training and Coetzee is hopeful he will be available for next week’s clash with the Lions.
Rynhardt Elstadt, forced to miss the Sharks match because of injury, is only expected to be back the week after next.
