Province want to wash away their troubles with a win at Newlands
WESTERN PROVINCE really need to beat the Cheetahs on Friday. Not only because they need the log points or because it’s Newlands, but so that they can “wash off” their opening round drubbing by the Bulls. Or so says WP mentor John Dobson.
When Dobson was asked about their Loftus defeat at a press conference yesterday, he said that they had “rushed the team too quickly and overloaded them with information” ahead of their Currie Cup opener.
He admitted that he “didn’t expect it to go quite as badly as it did”. The WP coach also lamented all the turnovers his side conceded as well as their poor defence.
But this week Province will have to soak up all the information they can and do their homework thoroughly for their home game against the joint log-toppers this weekend. Without overloading, of course.
Franco Smith’s men decimated the Bulls at the collisions and the breakdowns in Bloemfontein last Saturday. They cleverly kept the ball alive in the tackle and they cut through Nollis Marais’ charges’ defence and exploited it for all it was worth. And Dobson does not at all want to be in the same situation as his side’s old foes come Friday.
“It’s going to be a very tough game for us this week. The Cheetahs team are very close to the Super Rugby side. But it gives us our chance at redemption and if we do manage to turn them over, which is going to be hard, then we’ve sort of washed off Loftus because we will become all square then.”
“The physical dominance is a source of concern given that the Bulls did the same to us. So all three areas, when it’s our carries, our tackles and our cleaning. We have worked a lot on breakdowns today,” Dobson said.
Another facet that the Free Staters flourished in at the weekend was the lineouts. The Cheetahs poached three lineout balls and also scored two tries from the set-piece.
“We’re also going to work hard on it (the lineouts) tomorrow. We actually going to train an extra day this week just to get the plans in place,” Dobson said about their lineout preparations.
One player who Dobson can definitely look forward to getting back is quick-stepping Olympic Sevens bronze medallist Cheslin Kolbe.
Seabelo Senatla, however, is one speedster that Dobson will be without for the remainder of the season after he broke his wrist in the Springbok Sevens side’s quarter-final win over Australia.
“I was absolutely thrilled to see Seabelo (Senatla) break his wrist,” Dobson joked.
“Chezzie is back tomorrow and I’ll have a chat to him. I’ll just see where he is sort of mentally and how scarred he is, he’s got a slightly sore calf. But we’ll see where he is.”