Sharks coach lauds victors

– Sharks coach Robert du Preez (above) praised Western Province for a top-class performance after their 33-21 victory in the Currie Cup final on Saturday.

“Western Province put a lot of pressure on us, it started early with the scrums, they have a great front row with Wilco Louw, Bongi Mbonambi and JC Janse van Rensburg, and we battled to recover from that. It took its toll in the second half and we just couldn’t get our hands on the ball, which made it very tough.

“The other thing Western Province really did well was the momentum they got, they kept getting over the gain-line, and when you keep on losing it, it becomes very difficult to defend. John Dobson and his coaching team have done fantastically well because it wasn’t going so great for them halfway through the season,” Du Preez said.

In one of the most anticipated features of the final, it was Du Preez’s eldest son Robert Jr who won the familial battle, driving Western Province to the title in the second half with an astute tactical game. If there is any consolation for Du Preez senior from the weekend, it is that his son is coming to the Sharks next year and is undoubtedly a top acquisition.

“Robert played really well, especially in the second half, he controlled the game like a general. We’re very pleased he’s coming to the Sharks, he’ll definitely help our stocks at flyhalf. We have some really exciting young 10s and he will add to that. Game-management was the difference between the two sides in the final, theirs was a lot better than ours, they controlled the game,” coach Du Preez said.

Game-management is of course much easier playing behind a dominant pack, but Sharks flyhalf Curwin Bosch was also responsible for a couple of costly moments of softness in defence.

“You’ve got to make those oneon-one tackles, you can’t just grab at the guy, you have to make hits,” Du Preez said.