WP coach coach proud despite disappointment

Published Oct 17, 2016

Share

Cape Town – Coming so close and cruelly missing out on victory in the very last minutes of a game is a terrible feeling. Add the fact that the victory would have been celebrated by the underdogs, against their old foes, at their fortress, and it makes that feeling even worse.

That was exactly the situation in the Currie Cup semi-final between Western Province and the Blue Bulls at Loftus on Saturday night. That terrible feeling belonged to Province, of course.

It was a see-saw encounter in which the lead changed hands several times, and although the hosts dominated for much of the game, Province made the Bulls sweat as the match progressed, so much so that WP looked set to go into their fifth consecutive Currie Cup final with three minutes to go.

But a late try by replacement scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl changed all of that and secured a 36-30 win for the Bulls - who earned their first Currie Cup final since 2009.

After a rough season in which Province lost a number of key players to injury and Springbok selection, the Cape side didn’t have the easiest of campaigns. And although WP coach John Dobson was obviously disappointed, he also had words of praise for his team.

“We are proud of them. They put a lot into that game. But we came here to win it, so there was obviously a lot of disappointment. We were written off before so I was pleased with the way we performed, but having said that I thought the Bulls were excellent. They were the deserved winners of the game if you look at it from the beginning.

“It has been a tough campaign for a lot of reasons. But a lot of people didn’t even think we’d make a semi and we ended up third and we came very close to getting into the final. So I think I am satisfied (with the season). We have learnt a lot of lessons,” Dobson said.

Despite a few errors here and there, Province did well on defence, which was one of their more troublesome areas this season. And it was their progress since losing to the Bulls in their first game this season that particularly impressed Dobson.

“We were a much better side than what we were when we came here in August.

“Our plan was to play off turnovers. I think we did well at set-piece, our maul was good, so our plan was to have a solid set-piece and then play off turnovers, which is pretty much how it worked out. It would have been a good win, a really famous win, so I can’t fault the plan or the players.

“Looking at the overall reflection of the game it was probably a fair result. We would have been lucky if we had gotten this,” he added.

The Cheetahs will host the Bulls at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein in this coming weekend’s final. And when asked what his predictions were, Dobson said: “It’s going to be tough.

“If the Bulls’ carriers get momentum it’s going to be hard for the Cheetahs. If the Cheetahs give the Bulls some momentum and their guys get on the front foot, the Bulls are going to be very hard to beat. Any team will struggle to beat them. But the Cheetahs have got a lot of line speed. It’s a final between teams playing great rugby.”

The Star

Related Topics: