Director of Rugby John Dobson looks back on DHL Western Province’s hard-fought Carling Currie Cup win at the Danie Craven Stadium, and the way forward as they face another big challenge in Kimberley this weekend.

DHL Western Province scored six tries on their way to a 39-30 victory against the Airlink Pumas in Stellenbosch on Sunday.

It was a tense Carling Currie Cup encounter, but DHL Western Province did enough to claim a full five log points. They regroup for this week’s clash against the Suzuki Griquas at Suzuki Stadium in the final round of the regular Carling Currie Cup campaign.

Injection of new players

“In terms of the returnees getting game time – Ruben van Heerden, Joseph Dweba, Adre Smith – it was very much a good outing. I felt like we could’ve played a bit better but we can’t single out the returnees because they were in the minority. But for the first time this season we had not one injury and had the likes of Ruben getting 35 minutes, Joe [Dweba] looked good, Dave Ewers got on the field, it was great. In terms of the battle, we maybe weren’t 100 percent but in terms of our strategy it was very good. Just to see Joe come on and score, they brought another level of intensity in that second half. Steven Kitshoff and Manie Libbok both needed rugby, and what was nice for Kitsie was he got plenty of scrums. Manie clearly needs a gallop but there were some nice signs.”

Kimberley challenge

“We’re going into this game with a very different mindset and we’ve got to be careful about that, because that’s how we risk injuries. What we have to be careful about is that the Airlink Pumas game was on a Sunday afternoon and the Suzuki Griquas game is on a Friday, and we’ve just put out quite a few guys who haven’t played in a long time and their bodies are still sore from playing their first match in three months. We can’t really go full-out on Friday night with the short turnaround like I would’ve liked so it’s a challenge. The team will look more like our Carling Currie Cup team for much of this season.”

Growth of Imad Khan

“The challenge around the scrumhalves is we have this clear game model and if you look at Dewaldt Duvenage and Stefan Ungerer they’re quite different, and then you’ve got Imad Khan, Paul de Wet and Herschel Jantjies who really fit the DHL Western Province and DHL Stormers DNA, with their support lines and the way they defend. But Imad is coming on well. I’ve been watching this youngster since he was playing for Bishops in Grade 11, he’s really special. Just want to get him confident and play more rugby.”

Squad development

“Strategically, the Carling Currie Cup hit the nail on the head for us. Divan Fuller is knocking hard on the Vodacom United Rugby Championship door for the DHL Stormers; JC Mars if he had stayed fit, also, but when he comes back he will be. If we hadn’t gone through what we have this season, arguably no one would be talking about this impressive kid from Paarl Boys’ High. People would be saying, ‘see you in a couple of years’, but he’s here now, knocking. Jonathan Roche has been fantastic. Everyone’s telling us Damian Markus is too small but he’s got real skill and he’s not scared of anything, and he’s such a pleasant young man from a very humble background. I was a bit worried about prop after injuries to Lizo Gqoboka, Ali Vermaak and Sazi Sandi but Vernon Matongo has been good, as well as Zachary Porthen. That’s what the Carling Currie Cup is there for.”