Province beat Kings in ‘poor, frustrating game’
FRUSTRATED Western Province coach John Dobson summed it up when he said his team’s 36-6 win over the EP Kings had been a poor and frustrating game of Currie Cup rugby to watch.
Though the crowd of 2 126 fans were treated to six tries from Western Province, it was largely a stop-start and errorriddled encounter.
The win was vital for the Western Province because it was their first of the season and kept alive their hopes of making the end-of-season Premier Division playoffs.
“I have got to watch that four times again,” Dobson quipped as he contemplated what will be painful video analysis session of an uninspiring contest.
“It was a poor game of rugby. But credit to the Kings because they never went away.
“Considering what they have done in three weeks, it was a hell of an impressive performance.
“Our Super Rugby pack got shaded by the Kings’ pack so it was a very disappointing performance.
“Every scrum took three minutes and there were lots of them. Then somebody sat down all the time so the game never had any rhythm.
“So if you want push a team and they get tired there is never a chance because everything is set to zero the whole game.
“We did not look after the ball and some of the guys said it was very slippery out there, but I think they were just trying to get themselves out of trouble.
“The same problems that bedevilled us in the first two weeks which was losing too much ball.
“But I thought we had much more width on attack and we had moments in the first half when two tries were rightfully disallowed.
“We seemed to have a bit more shape to our game, which gives me hope, but we are not controlling the game well at all.
“In the game-making areas we were quite young and inexperienced.
“The breakdown was very competitive but, to be fair, I don’t think the Kings’ style of play is not over-ambitious.”
Kings coach Barend Pieterse agreed that it had been a frustrating game to watch.
“It was frustrating because there are areas we do better in each game and in the next game we don’t do as well,” Pieterse said.
“I don’t think it was the defensive effort that cost us the game.
“I think it was more system errors in the defence with two guys shooting up and one or two missed tackles.
“Once again it was a brave performance by the guys, but like I said last week, you can only go so far with passion.
“I was frustrated, but it was our fault because we did not look after the ball.
“We got a turnover and then they got one. So it was a zig-zag thing, like watching tennis the whole time.”
For Western Province, hard-running centre Huw Jones scored a hat-trick of tries as the Kings struggled to hold the visitors at bay.
The Kings’ bid to record a first win in the Premier Division were also jolted when No 8 Christiaan de Bruin and then flank Etienne Oosthuizen were both shown yellow cards by referee Lesego Legoete.
Scorers: Western Province 36: Tries: Leolin Zas, Huw Jones (3), Sikhumbuszo Notshe, Jano Vermaak. Conversions: Brandon Thomson (3). EP Kings 6: Penalties: Kobus Marais (2).