Cape Town - Western Province really need to beat the Cheetahs on Friday. Not only because they need the log points or because it’s Newlands, but so that they can “wash off” their opening-round drubbing by the Blue Bulls. Or so says WP coach John Dobson.
When Dobson, pictured, was asked about their Loftus defeat at a press conference on Monday, he said that they had “rushed the team too quickly and overloaded them with information” ahead of their Currie Cup opener.
He admitted that he “didn’t expect it to go quite as badly as it did”. The WP coach also lamented all the turnovers his side conceded as well as their poor defence.
But this week WP will have to soak up all the information they can and do their homework thoroughly for their home game against the joint log-leaders this weekend. Without overloading, of course.
Franco Smith’s men decimated the Bulls at the collisions and the breakdowns in Bloemfontein last Saturday. They cleverly kept the ball alive in the tackle and they cut through the Bulls’ defence and exploited it for all it was worth. And Dobson does not at all want to be in the same situation as his side’s old foes come Friday.
“It’s going to be a very tough game for us this week. The Cheetahs team are very close to the Super Rugby side. But it gives us our chance at redemption and if we do manage to turn them over, which is going to be hard, then we’ve sort of washed off Loftus because we will become all square then,” Dobson said.
“The physical dominance is a source of concern given that the Bulls did the same to us. So all three areas, when it’s our carries, our tackles and our cleaning. We have worked a lot on breakdowns today.”
Another facet that the Free Staters flourished at, at the weekend were the lineouts. The Cheetahs poached three lineout balls and also scored two tries from the set-piece.
“We’re also going to work hard on it (the lineouts) tomorrow. We actually going to train an extra day this week just to get the plans in place,” Dobson said about WP’s lineout preparations.
Dobson also feels that this year’s Currie Cup campaign is tougher than last year when they succumbed 32-24 to the Lions in the final.
“I think this one is going (to be) tougher (than last year). There are only four or five guys that started in that final at Ellis Park who are available for us now. With the change in the Springbok set-up we have given away so many more players than we did a while ago. So it’s going to be a challenge for us. But, as these guys will tell you, it’s a good group, it’s a tight group and it’s a nice vibe,” he said.
“So we may not be the most talented team in the whole Currie Cup, but we really will get better. This Friday night is so important to us because of the single-round format and we have still got to go to Ellis Park. It’s non-negotiable.”
One player who Dobson can definitely look forward to welcoming back is Olympic Sevens bronze medallist Cheslin Kolbe.
Seabelo Senatla, however, is one speedster that Dobson will be without for the remainder of the season after he broke his wrist in the Blitzboks’ quarter-final win over Australia. Loose forward Nizaam Carr is also going to be absent this weekend as he went for an arthroscopy to diagnose his knee injury on Monday. Dobson also confirmed that Tim Agaba has been given some time off.
“I was absolutely thrilled to see Seabelo (Senatla) break his wrist,” Dobson joked.
“Chezzie is back tomorrow and I’ll have a chat to him. I’ll just see where he is sort of mentally and how scarred he is, he’s got a slightly sore calf. Juan (de Jongh) is obviously with the Springboks. It’s only really Cheslin that might be in the frame for this weekend. But we’ll see where he is.”
Cape Argus