Semi-final spot secured, WP’s Dobson now wants a final Newlands showdown
The Cape Town based team now have a chance to bid their famous stadium farewell in the proper fashion.
WP coach John Dobson is hoping his team can finish off the Currie Cup in style, and at home at Newlands. Picture: Gallo Images
Is Western Province’s biggest weapon – their massive scrum – also potentially their major weakness?
Province secured their Currie Cup playoffs spot with a last-gasp 31-29 win over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last weekend with their powerful scrum the standout feature of their performance.
However, when World Cup Springboks, prop Frans Malherbe and hooker Bongi Mbonambi, were replaced by Neethling Fouche and Chad Solomon (with Kwenzo Blose also entering the fray), the Cheetahs were able to over-turn a 23-9 deficit and get right back into the game before letting things slip at the death.
Now, ahead of hosting the Sharks in the final round of matches this weekend, Province coach John Dobson explained losing hooker Scarra Ntubeni prior to the Cheetahs clash wasn’t ideal.
“The Covid results and having to adapt to that is affecting all the teams,” said Dobson.
“For some sessions you are not allowed to scrum and you have to ensure your team is clean before you take contact so it’s not ideal,” said Dobson.
Western Province are now joint top of the log with the Bulls on 35 points. Dobson said the win away from home against a good Cheetahs team would be a big boost for the team’s morale.
“We suffered those two earlier narrow defeats in the competition against the Bulls and the Lions and our previous two wins against the Pumas and Griquas were against teams at the bottom of the table,” he said.
“So it was important for us to go on and beat one of the bigger teams in the competition which the Cheetahs are,” added Dobson.
Dobson’s team now have a chance to host a playoffs game and say goodbye to Newlands in a proper manner.
“It was a big game for us; we are desperate to play at Newlands come playoffs time,” said Dobson.
“There’s a lot of emotion around Newlands. The first goal was to qualify for the semi-finals, which we’ve now done, and now we can look forward to our next challenges.”
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