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Cape Town - Western Province coach Allister Coetzee says he expects the Golden Lions to stick to their attacking approach when the two sides meet for their Currie Cup semi-final clash at Newlands on Saturday.
"The Lions love keeping the ball and taking it through phases and having a go, and they punish teams with turnover possession. So we’ve got to make sure we are accurate," Coetzee said on Friday.
"I think we now have the control and the experience, plus the maturity, to deal with the occasion, and to embrace it.
"You should never be over-confident, but we’ve had a great week of preparation and really have no excuse not to go out there and make our supporters proud by achieving our objective of securing a home final.”
Province would be fielding an even stronger side with in-form Springbok captain Jean de Villiers being a major factor in midfield.
Province's assistant coach Robbie Fleck believed De Villiers' presence in the run-on XV was a major plus.
"Jean is in the form of his life,” Fleck said.
"He leads by example, and it’s not just his leadership, but his play. He has taken that form into Test match rugby and has been phenomenal.
"For me he has been one of the players of the year and I hope he gets his due reward."
Meanwhile, Lions coach Johan Ackermann was aware of the dangers ahead of his side's visit to Newlands, and hoped his charges would fire on self-belief.
"We (the Lions) must look at the (league) games we played against them this season. We came back in both games and, in my view, they were close, Ackermann said.
"We have guys who want to express themselves on the field and enjoy themselves. We have a mindset of belief and we know, if we are good enough we will win."
