WP are gutted after ‘scrappy’ game

Western Province head coach John Dobson lamented his side’s “disjointed” performance, which was the major reason why Province failed to give Newlands a proper farewell in their dismal 19-9 Currie Cup semifinal defeat to the Sharks in Cape Town on Saturday.

Province had to rely on three penalty goals from flyhalf Tim Swiel, as the Sharks scored the only try of the game seven minutes from time through lock JJ van der Mescht, while flyhalf Curwin Bosch contributed 14 points.

Though the game was still in the balance with seven minutes left and the Sharks holding a slender 12-9 lead, the Van der Mescht try was the game-clincher.

“We were more than disappointed, it was more a case of being devastated,” said Dobson.

“It was an important game for us and we let ourselves down. It’s very sad and we wanted to finish well here at Newlands.”

Despite the hosts enjoying the monopoly of possession and territory in the first half, it was the Sharks who went into the break with a 9-6 lead, and in the second half the mediocre home team could add only three more points.

“In the first half they defended our mauls very well and we weren’t accurate in our transitions,” added Dobson.

“We spoke about giving away penalties there and we conceded about seven or eight.

“In the second half we were quite poor and didn’t defend the maul as well as we should have.”

With Sharks flanks Dylan Richardson and Henco Venter enjoying a field day at the breakdown, Dobson admitted it was a “scrappy” game.

Captain Siya Kolisi described the loss as a “horrible feeling” and said they had stressed the need for discipline in the build-up, but only had themselves to blame.

“We had no fluency and just couldn’t get going,” he said.