Du 21 points help WP to claim home semi Preez’s
Coach reveals teasing in run-up to Currie Cup game with Sharks
WESTERN province coach John Dobson revealed that he and his charges had spent the week in the build-up to the game ragging flyhalf Rob du Preez about coming up against his twin brothers in the final round of the Currie Cup season.
WP needed to win with a bonus point to claim a home semifinal‚ which they duly did with a 31-20 victory over the Sharks at the weekend.
The visitors overturned a 13-3 halftime deficit with Rob du Preez producing a superb performance where he scored two tries‚ landed four conversions and kicked a penalty for a 21-point haul.
It was an eye-catching display from the flyhalf‚ who has been linked to a move back to Durban at the end of the season where he will join up with his father (Robert senior – Sharks coach) and twin brothers, Jean-Luc and Daniel.
“We gave Rob a hard time in the build-up to this game‚” Dobson said.
“The guys were asking him if he was going to ‘sort out his sisters today’ because we thought Jean-Luc and Daniel were both playing.
“Look‚ Rob had a lot riding on this game if it is true that he is returning to Durban, because he is playing for a place in the Sharks team.
“He is also a candidate for the Springboks’ end-of-year tour, so he had a personal score to settle and the referee actually told him to calm down after scoring his first try.
“We were under a lot of pressure for a home semifinal.
“We are probably one of the better teams in the tournament in terms of talent‚ so for us not to have secured a home semifinal would have been an underperformance. That’s why we were so desperate.
“What makes it tough on teams like us is that we will face a Lions team full of returning Springboks.”
It also says a lot about the state of the Currie Cup that the Blue Bulls made the semifinals despite losing 60% of their matches while the Golden Lions lost half their games and still finished third.
The Sharks have been the form team of the tournament‚ recording 10 wins in a row‚ which were bookended by defeats in round one and round 12.
The Bulls will travel to Durban to face the Sharks‚ a team that won 83% of their matches (10 out of 12).
The Golden Lions have a trip to Cape Town to take on Western Province in the other semi and the Cape side won nearly 60% of their matches (seven out 12).
The Currie Cup is a tournament structure that rewards mediocrity.
With seven teams in the competition‚ only three are eliminated after a laborious 12-match pool phase.
The tournament would be better served if the top two advanced directly to a final.
But play-offs mean money and an extra game attracting 30 000 plus fans at Newlands and King’s Park is vital income to struggling unions.