Director of Rugby John Dobson was delighted with the emphatic Carling Currie Cup win by a youthful DHL Western Province side in Welkom, and has encouraged them to build on their performance this weekend.

DHL Western Province scored 10 tries on their way to a convincing 64-15 victory against the NovaVit Griffons on Sunday to put themselves in fifth position on the standings.

Importance of the win

‘It was important for DHL Western Province to get a win, the mood in the changeroom hasn’t felt too great the last couple of weeks. Saying that, there were some good moments in both our previous games with largely an experimental team. Credit to the NovaVit Griffons, it was certainly a difficult venue to play this weekend. But what was important for us was exposing a whole different group of players to the pressures of the Carling Currie Cup while getting the W.’

Players putting their hands up

‘As a coaching staff we’re very thrilled for a young guy like Johnny Roche, I thought he was exceptional. Hendre Stassen, who after a lengthy break from rugby, put in a good shift and has made massive progress over the last three weeks. Imad Khan also looked sharper, and Blomme [Blommetjies] – he’s been sidelined for almost nine months so would’ve been a bit rusty, so that’s why his outing was so successful. And also no serious injuries, just a few bumps and bruises.’

Challenge in Pretoria this weekend

‘The Vodacom Bulls are probably running a very powerful, separate Carling Currie Cup campaign, and they beat us at home. The DHL Western Province team is also going up to Loftus Versfeld without the experience of Jean-Luc du Plessis and Lizo Gqoboka, who were involved in that game at DHL Stadium but are injured, and also the likes of Connor Evans and Adre Smith. It’s going to be tough but the win over the NovaVit Griffons has helped us.’

Goals going forward

‘I want to see this DHL Western Province group grow even more and keep getting better, before some players shift their focus towards the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. The youngsters who stay on board will be key to us progressing in the Carling Currie Cup campaign, and the game against the Vodacom Bulls is crucial for them to get more exposure and play well. The Vodacom Bulls are one of the competition’s most formidable teams, so it will be a good test to see where these youngsters are. We’re certainly going up to Pretoria to compete and put up another good performance.’