Dobson is very hard to please
WESTERN PROVINCE coach John Dobson was not at all impressed with his side’s 36-6 victory over the Eastern Province Kings last Saturday in Port Elizabeth, but one thing that he did appreciate was his team’s attacking structures.
After defeats to the Blue Bulls at Loftus and the Free State Cheetahs at Newlands, Dobson lamented WP’s tight, narrow attacking lines. But against the Kings, WP played wider and made better use of their opportunities in this regard, despite the fact that the game at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was another error-strewn one in which the visitors turned over a lot of ball.
“Like I said last week, we’re trying to tweak our attack a bit, and that showed up quite well in terms of our structures on attack. (I am) not pleased with the performance, not pleased with the ball control, but we really saw some positive signs in terms of the attack.
“To be fair to the players, it’s a brand new thing (the attacking structures). I’m very acutely aware that we didn’t play well on Saturday so I’m not trying to make it sound like I’m happy with the performance,” Dobson said.
The win was much-needed by WP to keep their play-off hopes alive, and now their next challenge will be at Newlands on Saturday when they face the log-topping Sharks.
The Durbanites secured their fourth win in as many matches when they beat the Bulls 26-19 in Durban on Saturday night.
Sharks fullback Curwin Bosch was the standout player in a strong man-of-the-match performance that saw him contribute 19 points in total, including a try.
And Dobson is well aware of the threats that the 19-yearold with the massive boot poses. However, he believes that the outcome of the match will be decided up front.
“They have got a very big pack of forwards and they’re all Super Rugby players. Very physical, very territorial. And then if you get your kicking or your turns wrong they’ve got real X-factor, in guys like (Lukhanyo) Am and (Curwin) Bosch. So it’s a big challenge for us. It will probably be decided by how our pack stands up.”
Meanwhile, Dobson also confirmed that centre Dan du Plessis will miss the next few weeks of Currie Cup action and that EW Viljoen will take over in midfield alongside Johnny Kotze. He also confirmed that Sevens stalwart Tim Agaba will add to WP’s loose-forward resources.
“Tim (Agaba) trained with us today so that’s a loose forward possibility.
“Dan du Plessis is out for a couple of weeks. He tweaked his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), he didn’t tear it. I was really looking forward to unveiling him in this Currie Cup. We haven’t been able to give him any momentum yet because of injury. It’s a pity,” Dobson said.