Cape Town - Even if the Stormers and Western Province don’t win a trophy this season, coach John Dobson feels that they have already achieved one of the main goals: to create depth.
That part of the Capetonians’ make-up was clear for all to see on Friday night at Loftus Versfeld, where a WP side made up of a few URC players and mainly Currie Cup players did almost the unthinkable to knock over a full-strength Bulls outfit 41-33.
And it wasn’t just the result that mattered, but the type of rugby that the visitors produced. They were ruthless on the counter-attack, where fullback Clayton Blommetjies and wings Suleiman Hartzenberg and Ruhan Nel were devastating with ball-in-hand, while scrumhalf Paul de Wet wasn’t far behind either.
Coupled with a courageous effort from the physically out-gunned pack of forwards – although No 8 Keke Morabe was a powerful ball-carrier – as well as a deadly goal-kicker in Kade Wolhuter, Province had enough ammunition to consign the Bulls to a sixth defeat in a row across all competitions.
“Our big thing after last season and winning the URC was about building depth and creating more opportunities. At one stage, we had used the most players in the URC, which is our goal. We had 24 players in Cape Town yesterday, getting ready for the trip to Leinster (next Friday),” Dobson said.
“That’s the best thing about us. This season, we might win nothing. But in terms of creating depth and the sustainability of this team, I think it’s a better achievement than last year.
“When they were eight points up and on attack, that could have got messy. But it’s just amazing how our group stay in the fight. To come up here and do that against their URC team, I am very, very proud of them.
“And I asked them… I said I didn’t expect us to win this game, and I just asked them to fight – to really play for each other, to fight, defend. And I think we got that right. There’s probably a similar look to this Currie Cup team over the last two weeks compared to the Stormers – in terms of the DNA, how we fight, how we chase kicks, how we strike … ”
Dobson confirmed that his big names will all return for Friday’s URC showdown with Leinster in Dublin (9.35pm SA time kick-off), with only Blommetjies and loose forward Ben-Jason Dixon from the WP side joining the Stormers in Ireland.
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Nel will be staying in Cape Town as his wife is due to give birth this week.
Stormers skills coach Labeeb Levy will also remain in the Mother City to take charge of the Province side for their Currie Cup encounter against the Sharks in Durban next Sunday (2pm kick-off).
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Dobson felt that the returning Boks, who will include captain Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe and Damian Willemse, may take a while to find their feet against Leinster after such a lengthy break, but praised their contribution to WP’s victory in training last week.
“It was significant, because suddenly on Tuesday, the two teams went at each other. It wasn’t contact, but shoulder-check stuff, and the level was so good, it was so high that at one stage, it looked like the Currie Cup team challenged the URC team – it was a really high-level training,” the coach said.
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