DHL Western Province head coach John Dobson was a proud man after his team’s 23-18 Absa Currie Cup semifinal win over the Blue Bulls in Pretoria and he rightly praised his troops for their performance afterwards.
The defending champions moved into a fourth successive Currie Cup Final with a two tries to nil victory over their hosts, with their final opponents set to be determined on Saturday afternoon when the Golden Lions entertain the Free State Cheetahs at Emirates Airline Park.
“I was disappointed to be 9-all at half-time, so relief is probably the best way to explain my feelings,” said Dobson on Friday evening.
“Full credit to the Bulls, they did not stop playing and they could’ve won it at the end. I thought we should’ve had more to show from the first half, but the Bulls defended well, so, yes, relief is probably the right way to sum things up.”
The 9-9 half-time scoreline was courtesy of three Robert du Preez penalty goals – versus three from the Bulls’ Tiaan Schoeman – with both of DHL WP’s tries coming in the second half.
When asked about his team’s second-half effort, Dobson revealed: “Our message at half-time was just to carry on.
“To be honest, in those last 10-15 minutes (of the game) it was our defence that pulled us through. To come up to Loftus and not concede a try is quite an achievement and credit must go to (defence coach) Paul Treu. He had a hard time a couple of weeks ago and, crucially, that (the defence) also shows the character of this team.”
Of course, winning a match of this nature away from home is also quite an achievement, with DHL WP having been given little hope – in some quarters – of putting one over the Bulls, especially after their last visit to Pretoria in late August when they went down 29-47.
“We always felt that was a horror half an hour… it was an aberration in many ways,” Dobson told the www.wprugby.com website, referring to the previous clash at Loftus Versfeld.
“But this is a great result,” he added.
“(Bulls coach) Nollis (Marais) deserves a lot of credit, they’re playing a great style of rugby and they’re really coming together nicely as a team. They had a deserved home semifinal and a lot of belief, so for us to come up here and win… I mean, we took 60 points down the road (in Johannesburg) two weeks ago, so my team deserves a lot of credit for picking themselves up off the canvas like that.
“I think we deserved to win the game in the end. It was a tight game, but, I think marginally, we deserved the win.”
Hot-stepping fullback Cheslin Kolbe walked off with the official Absa Man of the Match Award, having scored a brilliant opportunistic try in the second half (in the 52nd minute) before also setting up Jano Vermaak’s match-winning try in the last ten minutes.
“In a semifinal like this it’s those small things that can turn a game. I was under a bit of pressure externally to re-look at our back three and Chessie was perhaps under pressure, but, tonight, he epitomised the team getting off the canvas,” said Dobson.
“The team chooses its own Man of the Match and they (also) selected Chessie without knowing that SuperSport had chosen him too as theirs, so I am very chuffed for him.”
Skipper Juan de Jongh – who started in the No.12 jersey – said his team was looking ahead to the challenge of being in the final, saying: “Our focus was all about winning the semifinal and we’re excited about being in the final, especially as a few of the guys in this team haven’t played in one before.
“We’re not worried about who we play. Our only worry is to ensure we prepare well enough for the final, no matter who we play against.”
Coach Dobson echoed his captain’s words, concluding: “No matter who we play we need to take it up a level for the final.
“I was a bit disappointed with a few of our scrum penalties, I thought our line-out and maul functioned well, which was great, but, like I said, we need to up it a level for next week.”
As an added bonus ahead of next week’s final, which gets underway at 14h00 (either in Johannesburg or Cape Town), Dobson also reported a clean bill of health within his squad – despite the physical nature of their semifinal victory.
