WP didn’t expect to send the Sharks backwards the whole time

Western Province knew that the scrums would be a key factor in the Currie Cup final but never expected to be so dominant, coach John Dobson said after their convincing 33-21 victory over the Sharks at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

The first scrum of the match, with the Sharks deep on attack, resulted in a tighthead thanks to a massive shove by Western Province.

At practically every scrum thereafter, the Sharks were going backwards, and even on the one occasion they got the shove on the opposition, it still ended in a try for the visitors as eighthman Nizaam Carr broke blind and set up fellow loose forward Cobus Wiese for the try that cut the deficit to one point after the home side had led 21-10 just before halftime.

Nizaam Carr was excellent for Province. Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images.

“We knew the scrums would be important, but we didn’t expect to be so dominant, we thought we might start getting an edge around 50 minutes. But that first scrum was a big marker for the game, when we destroyed them. The Sharks are also a tough side to play against when they’re carrying the ball, but our defence was very good on the gain-line,” Dobson said after securing Western Province’s 34^th outright Currie Cup title.

Although the Sharks’ ability to make the most of the many soft mistakes the visitors made in the first half saw the lead balloon to 21-10 in the 32nd minute, Dobson said the belief was always there that they could still win the game and that the try on the halftime hooter by wing Dillyn Leyds was the turning point.

“It was critical that we scored just before halftime, because if it had stayed 21-10 then the chances are that we would not have found a way back. But we felt very much in the game and Robert du Preez said in the changeroom, ‘Don’t worry coach this, we’ve got this’.

“We were under early pressure, but we hung in there, we were underdogs but we knew we could win. The team is really tight and they were desperate to win, and in the last few weeks they’ve just got more and more confidence. Robert du Preez and Huw Jones have been incredible in that time and the leadership of Chris van Zyl and Nizaam Carr has also been fantastic,” Dobson said.

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