Western Province will need to ‘change their attitude’ or face more Currie Cup heartache in the coming weeks.

This is the view of WP coach Allister Coetzee, following his team’s first defeat of the season – when they went down 33-35 to the Golden Lions in Johannesburg last Saturday.

Province, who conceded just eight tries in the first five weeks of the revamped Currie Cup competition, leaked five five-pointers against the Lions at Ellis Park.

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Needless to say Coetzee was a touch less jovial when discussing his team’s performance and looking forward to the next phase -when they host a vastly improved Griquas team at Newlands on Saturday, at the start of the cross-section games.

In the first phase of the competition the teams played in two sections – WP, Lions, Blue Bulls and Eastern Province Kings in one section, with the Pumas, Sharks, Free State Cheetahs and Griquas in the other.

For the next four weeks the teams will play the sides in the other section, ahead of the play-offs in October.

“We were particularly disappointed in the attitude on defence,” Coetzee said about his team’s defeat at Ellis Park.

“[It was] probably the worst defensive effort of this team this year.

“Technically we understood what is required, but the first thing you need to have is attitude and a massive workrate. That is where we let ourselves down.

“To me attitude is a massive thing [aspect in the game].”

The Province mentor did pay credit to a Lions team that looked to run the table-topping Province outfit ragged, before a late rally from the Cape Town team saw them claim a losing bonus point.

However, he was not holding back when discussing his own team’s performance.

“We also had no real ‘punch’ on attack, from structured play,” Coetzee said, adding: “You need to keep things structured as best as you can. We made the game too unstructured with quick throw-ins and not kicking the ball into touch.

“When you in control of the game you don’t make it unstructured – you have to control the pace of the game.”

The Province mentor said they have “learnt lessons” from the trip to Ellis Park and hopefully they won’t make those same mistakes against Griquas this coming Saturday.

“We have to make sure we get back onto the horse this week – it has been a bad day at the office.

“The pressure is off us, about being unbeaten and all that. We got a wake-up call and we have to make sure back at Newlands we get it right.

“We must look at the next four games as a different challenge for us,” he said of the cross-section phase of the competition.

“We haven’t played these guys and it is going to be a massive challenge. We are playing against Griquas, who have a lot of confidence now.

“They have won away from home [against the Sharks] and beat the Pumas at home. They will come to Cape Town with massive confidence.

“We have to make sure this is behind us and we prepare well. We know what is expected and we have a chance to set it right this [coming] weekend.”