Dobson really feels for Ntubeni
WESTERN PROVINCE could be without “top hooker” Scarra Ntubeni for the remainder of the Currie Cup after he injured his hamstring in their 21-20 loss to the Sharks at Newlands on Saturday.
Ntubeni, who only returned to action a couple of weeks ago after a long injury lay-off, looked good in his few outings for Province with his huge work rate, physicality and lineout work since returning from injury.
WP coach John Dobson said that Ntubeni’s loss would be a big blow for Province.
“Scarra injured his hamstring quite badly, I’m not sure if he’ll play in this Currie Cup again,” Dobson confirmed.
“But it’s not so much the Currie Cup that’s important… it’s poor Scarra. He’s just getting back and he’s such a presence in this team. He’s really physical and he’s a top hooker in South Africa. I really feel for him.”
In their defeat on Saturday, a late converted try by Sharks fullback Inny Radebe saw WP lose a home fixture that Dobson last week described as a “non-negotiable” if they want to secure a home Currie Cup semi-final, and there were a number of things that Dobson wasn’t too happy with.
One of those things was the mostly defensive role they played.
WP’s impatience with ball in hand ruined a number of good opportunities, and the fact that they conceded a number of costly penalties didn’t help either.
The hosts were reduced to 14 men when Steph de Witt was sin-binned for cynical play, and the Sharks were also awarded a penalty try after WP collapsed a rolling maul close to the try line early on.
After that, WP looked good with ball in hand as they produced a decent running show, but it was the Sharks who Dobson believes were more “clever”.
“It’s a massive frustration for us, we lost lineouts, gave away penalties and when we got the ball we were sort of anxious and we messed it up. It’s something we need to sort out really quickly,” Dobson said.
“Our physicality wasn’t where it’s been over the last few weeks. We have to fix this. We have to get the ball through more phases and our game management was poor. The Sharks were more clever – they were territory-based and direct, and they had a good kicking game.”
Dobson also said that their game management is an area that needs improving, and added that although Damian Willemse didn’t enjoy too much success when it came to making his out-of-hand kicks, the WP coach said that the young flyhalf offers value that deserves backing.
“Our kicking game was poor. We want to back Damian, that’s why we kept Rob du Preez on the bench for so long. Damian’s got real, real X-factor, so you don’t want to take him off and lose that X-factor. We’ve just got to work on our kicking game,” Dobson said.