Valke vs Griffons in final

THE Valke is playing against the Griffons in Welkom in the final of the first division Currie Cup competition on Saturday.

CEO of the Valke Rugby Union, Jurie Coetzee, said the Valke rugby family truly admired the turn around of the senior team during the second round of the competition.

“The signs of a renewed approach and especially a very much improved team from a conditioning aspect was visible during the qualifying round earlier in the year. A few results could easily have gone our way but it is a sport and anything can happen on the day.”

Last year, the Valke won only two of the six matches in this competition and was sixth of the seven teams competing. The statistics were also not good reading with 25 tries for and 31 against and a points difference of minus 30.

“The Absa Currie Cup First Division was, however, a different story at all. With five weeks between the two competitions and a very successful pre-season, the team came together as one and in the typical words of the President of the Valke, Vivian Lottering, they rose from the ashes – the so called Phoenix of the team,” Coetzee said.

The Valke played five matches and won three, losing only to the Leopards and Border in the pool round, thus advancing to the final this year.

“Our team is focused and has shown rapid signs of improvement and most of all, the current squad is committed, extremely fit and well prepared for the final. They have outperformed almost all in the business end of the tournament and there is no doubt in my mind that they know exactly what to expect and what to do to win this final,” Coetzee concluded.

The 2015 squad has already been contracted with only the addition of a number of juniors, to strengthen the team, left.

Apart from the senior team playing in the final, the Valke U/19 team, coached by Hans Labuschagne, will be up against the Boland in the final. The winner will play in a promotion/relegation match to participate in the A section of the junior tournament of the ABSA Currie Cup.

The U/19 game will start at 11am while the seniors will kick off at 3.30pm. This match is also live on DSTV SS1.

As part of a new strategy, the Currie Cup campaign of the Valke teams will be under the direction of Rudy Joubert, a former Springbok technical advisor and Boland coach, for the next two seasons. He also coached the team in 2007 and 2008.

After the sudden departure of the previous head coach and as a result of a disappointing Vodacom Cup tournament, Joubert was approached by the Valke Rugby Board to assist in preparing the team.

He accepted and was assisted by a rather young but very efficient team of coaches and technical staff.