Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus believes that being more involved in Western Province's Currie Cup campaign will benefit the Stormers for next year's Super 14.

While Erasmus won't be taking up an official position in the management team he wants to have a far more 'hands-on' approach during the domestic competition.

Over the past few years it has become customary for South Africa's Super Rugby coaches to withdraw them from the domestic competition but this trend is starting to change.

Very few Super Rugby winners also win their domestic competition in the same year and Erasmus has indicted that the Currie Cup needs to be used as a stepping stone for the southern hemisphere showpiece.

While Allister Coetzee will continue as head coach of Province, Erasmus is hoping to be actively involved this year.

"This season I want to be a lot more involved in the Currie Cup. Whereas last year I was involved in the preparation for maybe three or four games, this year I want to be there for the entire competition," Erasmus said in an interview with Supersport.

"I do not even want to miss a single training session.

"This is not a criticism of anyone else, it is just that I have recognised that maybe I did not to get to know some of the players who played Currie Cup last year well enough, and they did not get to know me.

"In 2008 I spent a lot of time preparing for the Super 14 during the Currie Cup season, and it deflected my attention away from what was happening. By being a lot more involved in the Currie Cup I will be able to play a much greater role in nurturing and help develop the players who may be playing for me in the Super 14."

During this year's pre-season Erasmus was content with the fact that Province's Currie Cup campaign should be sacrificed for the Stormers' cause.

However, now that the Stormers have failed in this year's Super 14 it appears that Erasmus may have underestimated the value of a successful Currie Cup campaign.

"I think one of the big mistakes I made last year was not placing a big enough emphasis on the Currie Cup," he admitted.

"I am not saying we didn't take the competition seriously, but I went into it thinking that because I had won it twice before with the Cheetahs it was easy and had little relevance to Super 14 success."

Therefore, he is hoping to use this year's Currie Cup as a springboard for Super 14 success in 2010.

"It is true that if you look at the history of the Super 14 you will notice that the Super rugby winners seldom also win their domestic competition that same year. I think it might be what has gone wrong to some extent with the Sharks now, their big effort in the Currie Cup last year is catching up with them.

"But the Crusaders did show the one year what can be done by building into the Super 14 from a successful domestic season. Like us now, they hadn't done well in the Super 14, but used the Air New Zealand Cup to get their show back on track.

"At the start of this year I would not have been thinking we would be looking to build through the Currie Cup, but that is the situation we find ourselves in."

365

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