By Aaron Wilson
As Davy Coetzer stood on the field following the SaberCats’ first defeat of the season, he immediately found a bigger-picture perspective.
A 47-35 loss to the defending champion New England Free Jacks halted the SaberCats’ undefeated status, but one setback doesn’t mean they can’t still accomplish all of their ambitious goals.
“It’s just one loss,” Coetzer said. “We still have many games to play this season. We’ll take our lessons from this game and bounce back. We have a good squad and a lot of guys who put their hands up and play rugby. We’ll fix the things we need to work on.”
Following the loss, Coetzer was recognized as the SaberCats’ Man of the Match.
Ranked seventh in Major League Rugby overall in scoring, Coetzer leads the SaberCats with 42 points. He scored a pair of tries against New England, but missed his conversion kicks on a windy night at SaberCats Stadium.
On a revamped roster, Coetzer isn’t the only scoring threat. There are multiple options on the attack.
“I think we’ve got a good all-around team and attack game, making the right decisions and playing the right options at the right times,” Coetzer said. “I thought we had some good attack at times and we just need to keep that going. A lot of boys have put their hands up this season and are playing some really good rugby.”
The SaberCats’ star fly-half finished second among all Major League Rugby players in scoring with 135 points last year and was third in successful goal kicks with 43 overall despite missing three matches with a knee injury.
Back for his third season with the SaberCats after the Port Elizabeth, South Africa native signed a new contract this offseason, Coetzer is aiming for much more than statistics this season. He’s chasing a championship.
“Culture is something we talk about a lot with our team, and the main thing is for us is to get along and you need to have a good culture from start to finish,” Coetzer said. “Culture keeps us grinding and supporting each other and everyone having a common goal of winning the whole thing.“We have such a good squad that it’s easier to rotate our players. We have motivated guys. The strength of the team is giving certain guys one-on-ones and playing to the strength of the team. I think the signings we made are great signings, not just good players, but very good people that add to the culture.”
Coetzer has provided a consistent scoring threat.
With speed and moves at his disposal, Coetzer figures out the angles and finds a scoring path.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder has made strides in his game.
“He’s a little warrior,” SaberCats director Heyneke Meyer said. “He’s played better and better.”
An emphasis for Coetzer is making progress on his kicking percentage.
“It’s always good to focus on improvement and there’s still a lot to be made,” Coetzer said. “I have goals as far as kicking percentage. It gives you a little boost in confidence. A lot of hard work went into this offseason, hopefully getting over 80 percent kicking percentage. That’s one of the things we’re constantly working on.”
In the loss to the Free Jacks, the SaberCats overcame a deficit and fought their way back into the match.
The SaberCats return to action this weekend against Old Glory DC on the road.
“In the second half, we showed some good fight,” Coetzer said. “At the end of the day, if you make mistakes and let them score tries, it’s a hard team to come back against. It wasn’t our peak performance, so, yeah, a lot of work to do.“We’ve definitely got to go back to the drawing board and look at the game. There are a lot of things we need to work on. It’s the nice thing about having another match. We need to get things right and try to bounce back against DC.”
