There’s a great sense of accomplishment at WP, says Dobson
That first half was great, but I think we’ve also come a long way. This team was a combination of club players, disappointed Stormers players and promising Under-21 players, and we built them into a tight unit.”
WESTERN PROVINCE coach John Dobson says he is pleased with the “tight unit” the team has become following their 28-19 victory over Griquas in the final of the SuperSport Rugby Challenge at Florida Park in Ravensmead yesterday.
In front of a lively crowd Province, who went into the final with a perfect 10-out-of-10 winning record, were the favourites going into the match against the surprise finalists, Griquas, and the win was the perfect ending to what has been a superb season.
And Dobson said that it was great to see how far a team filled with a combination of players from different backgrounds has come.
“That first half was great, but I think we’ve also come a long way. This team was a combination (of) club players, disappointed Stormers players and promising Under-21 players, and we built them into a tight unit,” Dobson said.
“So there’s a great sense of accomplishment.”
Dobson also praised the Ravensmead crowd turnout and their support.
Dobson’s team were clinical right from the start in an exhilarating first half and scored four impressive tries to go into the break with a 28-0 lead.
Griquas had a few good opportunities to get themselves onto the score sheet, but a few handling errors and slow work at the breakdown whenever they got into opposition 22, especially early in the second half, didn’t help them at all, and they were kept scoreless until the 55th minute.
They did start dominating the second half, however, as the game progressed, and they started putting WP under real pressure in the third quarter. And although they scored three good tries, it wasn’t enough to claim the competition’s maiden title.
Experienced wing Bjorn Basson got the first try of the match in the 11th minute, when he intercepted a pass and dodged defenders to open the scoring, while flyhalf Kurt Coleman kicked the first of four successful conversions to give WP a 7-0 lead.
Province wing Marcello Sampson also got a try, and shortly afterwards WP made Griquas pay for a few defensive mistakes with their third try when a well-timed pass by inside centre Brandon Thomson, followed by a top offload by Craig Barry brought the forwards into play just five metres out. It was tighthead Michael Kumbirai who got the last offload to lock Jurie van Vuuren who eventually powered through to get the try (21-0). Sampson got his brace when Thomson showed great vision as he kicked the ball ahead into space for the wing to chase (halftime 28-0).
In the third quarter, shortly after WP lock JD Schickerling was shown yellow, Griquas got onto the scoreboard when they shifted play to the left side of the field after a strong scrum, and replacement prop Nicolaas Oosthuizen showed good body position to go over (28-7).
A few minutes later Griquas strung a few phases together as they attacked WP’s line, and it paid off when outside centre Kock Marx went over for their second try (28-12). With two minutes to go, Griquas inside centre Tertius Kruger ran in another converted try (28-19), and as good as their fightback was, it wasn’t enough to turn things around.