WP braced for Golden Lions clash

Cape Town-131024-Newlands Rugby Stadium in preparation for this weekends Currie Cup Final Match between Western Province are the Sharks. Reporter: Natasha P, Photo: Ross Jansen [Panoramic Image]

Cape Town-131024-Newlands Rugby Stadium in preparation for this weekends Currie Cup Final Match between Western Province are the Sharks. Reporter: Natasha P, Photo: Ross Jansen [Panoramic Image]

Published Apr 27, 2016

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Cape Town - DHL Western Province coach John Dobson wants to see his team make another step up when they face the Xerox Golden Lions at DHL Newlands on Saturday.

Dobson’s charges have won both of their games this season, beating the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Newlands in the first round of action before notching a 36-31 victory over the Toyota Free State XV in Bloemfontein last week.

Having trailed at half-time, Western Province made a storming start to the second half in Bloemfontein, only to survive a late scare as they held on for a hard-earned victory.

“I thought we were unlucky to be behind at half-time, and the guys just seemed to snap into it at the beginning of the second half and we scored three tries in 10 minutes.

“We always said before the game that the Cheetahs would never give up. They scored with three minutes left and then another try from the restart, it was a crazy game,” said Dobson.

The Western Province coach knows that things will not get any easier this weekend as they look to extend their unbeaten start to the campaign against a Xerox Golden Lions team which are sure to provide a stern test at DHL Newlands.

“I think there are only a few guys on their team that haven’t played Vodacom Super Rugby, but we always knew that this team of ours because it was cobbled together would only get better,” said Dobson.

They will have to take that challenge on without the services of loose forward Jacques Vermeulen who has been ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury.

“Jacques Vermeulen is out for six weeks with a medial cruciate ligament injury, which is a big loss for us,” said Dobson.

African News Agency

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