The Star Late Edition

WP hoping not to be mauled by officials

- WYNONA LOUW

AHEAD OF their Currie Cup match against the Pumas at Mbombela Stadium today, Western Province coach John Dobson says that he isn’t too worried about the hosts’ scrum – it’s the officiatin­g at the maul that he’s concerned about.

At the team announceme­nt at Newlands Stadium on Wednesday, Dobson explained that his decision to name two props on the bench has little to do with the Pumas’ scrum, but that it’s more about bringing “fresh legs” into the game that will be played at high altitude.

Dobson named loosehead Alistair Vermaak and swinger Caylib Oosthuizen on the bench to provide that second- half oomph.

“I am not too worried about the Pumas’ scrummagin­g,” Dobson said.

“It’s at altitude, and we just want to accommodat­e JC Janse van Rensburg and Ali Vermaak. I know Michael Kumbirai is strong enough, but to ask him to play at tighthead for 80 minutes at altitude is a lot to ask.

“So the two props is more about a plan to bring on fresh legs later in the game.”

And as clear as Dobson made his reasoning behind selecting two props on the bench in a 22-man team, so did he express his concern about the maul and the officiatin­g thereof.

“We need to get the mauling adjudicati­on right, because the focus seems to be on defensive teams.

“Now you’re seeing all sorts of shift drives that a year ago would have been penalised. We had that Sharks penalty try against us, and to be fair to the ref he put up his hand, you can’t complain about that.

“But if we want to keep mauling in South African rugby, you need to blow defence and attack pretty much equally. Because at the moment we just seem to be blowing the defence.”

Apart from the officiatin­g, WP need no reminding of the Pumas’ abilities when it comes to the maul, and captain Chris van Zyl acknowledg­ed that it’s certainly one of the Pumas’ strengths and an area that his team have put quite a bit of work in this week.

“We’ve looked at their mauling, so that’s been one of our focuses to make sure that we prepare accordingl­y,” Van Zyl said.

“The mauling is the one thing, and the other thing is the breakdown threat. We’ve flagged it as something to work on from not only last week, but this whole year. We’re definitely aware of that threat and we’ll have to sort it out before it can become a problem.”

One less problem WP will have to worry about come the ruck time is Pumas flanker Chris Cloete.

The star ball stealer, who has had the rugby world talking this year, is out of the match due to injury.

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