Eddie Jones will start his preparations for next year’s Super Rugby campaign on Monday.
The new Stormers coach is set to arrive in Cape Town later this week after leading Japan to three wins at the Rugby World Cup, which includes their giant-killing act over the Springboks in the teams’ first match of the tournament.
The Western Province players, who lost to the Golden Lions in Saturday’s Currie Cup final, have been given time off and will return on November 14 to plan their onslaught on the revamped competition.
The Stormers’ Boks who played at the World Cup will have an extra few weeks off, while the likes of Schalk Burger, Damian de Allende and Eben Etzebeth will join the team shortly before the start of the season after signing short-term contracts in Japan.
However, one man who will not have a holiday is WP coach John Dobson, who took his young charges to the final in his first season in charge of the Currie Cup team.
Dobson will do some legwork for Jones over the next few weeks before the former Wallaby coach meets the players.
“We’ll be one big squad over pre-season, so I’ll fall in under him. I’ve got to do pretty extensive player reports and assessments to give him the most information possible,” the WP coach said yesterday.
“And then next year, I’ll carry on with Currie Cup. The Currie Cup, the first round will be very similar to the old Vodacom Cup, and then the main Currie Cup that we’re used to.”
Dobson is looking forward to Jones’ arrival in Cape Town, and says that he and the other coaches at the union will learn a lot from the wily Australian.
“It was a PR masterpiece – Japan beat South Africa on a Saturday and unveil Eddie Jones on the Monday. It’s not often that the planets align like that for WP,” he joked.
“From a morale point of view it was an excellent announcement. Eddie is technically sharp and you have to give respect to a guy who beat the Boks like that with that team. So we’ll just try and learn as much as we can.”
Dobson says there are a few players who put their hands up in the Currie Cup that will definitely feature for the Stormers.
“I think there are six or seven players who stood up in the Currie Cup and who could go on to play Super Rugby,” he said.
However, the WP coach is concerned about the standard of the Currie Cup after this year’s decider at Ellis Park was one of the more low-key finals in recent years, held on the same day as the World Cup semi-final between the Boks and the All Blacks.
It is understood all the unions will play each other in a competition that will replace the Vodacom Cup, while a six-team tournament will be held after Super Rugby. The Bok players won’t take part in either competition.
“I’m very concerned about the Currie Cup. That first leg is fine, it doesn’t matter what you call it, but the main Currie Cup is a source of concern to me,” Dobson said.
“What’s happening now, the Lions are a mature Currie Cup side at 25, and with so many guys going overseas, players are going incredibly fast through Currie Cup into Super Rugby.
“If we’re going to water down the production line of the guys going straight into Super Rugby, then we’re going to find the cupboard bare after a while.
“We were the envy of the world with this tournament, and you still see the value it’s got, but I think we’re in danger of shooting ourselves in the foot if we keep devaluing the competition.” - The Star