Dobson not happy with WP despite win over Griquas

DESPITE a confidence-boosting 33-15 Currie Cup win over Griquas at Newlands on Saturday, coach John Dobson is still not convinced his side are at their best.

WP trailed 15-13 with 20 minutes to go, but three tries in the final quarter secured a comfortable win in the end and also earned a bonus point to move to third on the standings on 15 points.

“This performance doesn’t make us fantastic, or give us reason for celebration and self-congratulation,” Dobson said. “But we had to win to restore confidence. Sport is about momentum and it turned against us at Loftus a few weeks ago and the guys have taken a battering mentally, which has been the biggest worry for me.

“When you’re confident, you win games you shouldn’t and I can see this effort, scoring four tries and not conceding one, has given the guys a lift. The vibe was good.”

The coach was unhappy with the lineouts and also perplexed by the officiating of the scrum. He felt WP dominated that area and weren’t rewarded.

“Our lineout was the poorest it’s been all year and I couldn’t explain what was going on in the scrums,” Dobson said.

“Some searching e-mails will be written to the authorities this week.

“It’s intriguing when you have two Springbok squad members [Scarra Ntubeni and Steven Kitshoff], who are clearly dominant in the scrum, but are getting penalised all the time. We are going to take this up.”

Flyhalf remains a difficult issue after Kurt Coleman delivered a patchy performance. The team appeared more balanced later in the game when Rob du Preez stepped in at flyhalf.

But that was coupled with the introduction of wing Dillyn Leyds, who popped up in the first receiver channel as well.

Leyds has flyhalf experience and wants to play there. Dobson is considering it.

“It’s going to be tricky to leave Dillyn out of the team again,” Dobson said. “The flyhalf issue is one we are going to have to think long and hard about. It’s as clear as mud sometimes.

“Kurt did bring some rhythm to our attack, but the flyhalf position is difficult. We perhaps have to take a longer-term view about what is best for WP in the long run.”