DHL Western Province Head Coach John Dobson says his team is looking forward to a ‘cracking’ Currie Cup Final against the Cell C Sharks in Durban.

Dobson’s charges claimed a convincing 19-5 win in their semifinal against the Xerox Golden Lions at DHL Newlands on Saturday, to book their place in the final at Kings Park.

The DHL Western Province mentor praised the fight his team showed in the semifinal, but added that they can definitely lift their game even further this week.

“Against a team that attacks with the width and the nuances that the Lions do, I thought we were defensively excellent.

“I was disappointed that when we had chances to put the game away we weren’t able to. We worked very hard this week on our reaction to the breakdown and I still don’t believe that we were at the desired level,” he said.

DHL Western Province managed to beat the Cell C Sharks in their final league fixture in Durban a fortnight ago, but Dobson is not reading too much into that result and insists that they will be facing an altogether different challenge in the final.

“We are not reading too much into that game, because with rugby as much as we can get technical and analyse the game a lot has to do with the mental side and they didn’t need to win that game.

“But it is nice for us because we have seen opportunities against them in how to attack against their defensive system which won’t change,” he said.

Dobson is expecting a high-quality encounter between two top teams in the showpiece match.

“I think it is going to be a cracking final, we are up for it and keen and we have seen some opportunities, but we know they will be more despreate than last time.

“If you look at the teams I think these are the two best teams, so it is the best final that you could get in terms of the players that are going to be out there and the style of rugby they play,” he added.

DHL Western Province captain Chris van Zyl praised the heart his team showed to limit the attack-minded Xerox Golden Lions to just one try at DHL Newlands.

“The one thing that stood out for me tonight is that we played with heart and gave everything. Our set-pieces were a focus for us this week and they worked out well for us.

“I think we have learnt a lot and the games this season that we had to win, somehow we have won them. We have got one more game and we have to win it if we want to win the Currie Cup,” he said.

DHL Western Province will be without the services of centre EW Viljoen in the final after the midfielder injured his hamstring at DHL Newlands.

The only other injury concern is flank Jaco Coetzee who suffered a knock to the head.