DHL Western Province head coach John Dobson doffed his hat at the Golden Lions after their big Absa Currie Cup win over the defending champions in Johannesburg on Friday evening.
The Lions beat DHL WP by 62 points to 32 at Emirates Airline Park, a result which has seriously damaged Province”s home semifinal hopes – although they cannot finish lower than third place on the log.
Speaking to the www.wprugby.com website after his team”s defeat, just their third loss of 2015, Dobson admitted: “We knew they would attack like they did but their intensity was just too much for us. They ran hard and direct in the first half… We were beaten by a really good Lions attack.
“This Lions team has been building (now) for about two, three years. They play the best style of rugby in South Africa; it”s ball in hand, it”s hard and fast and we just couldn”t live with it.”
DHL WP did manage a four-try bonus point in a losing effort, as they very nearly managed to fight back from a 20-36 half-time deficit, only to concede two crucial tries in the first 12 minutes of the second half.
“I was pleased with our intent to attack but we made too many errors with ball in hand to sustain any form of pressure on them,” said a visibly disappointed Dobson.
“Against a team like this, to lose so much ball and kick the ball directly out (three times), you are going to struggle.
“I thought the critical moment of the game was just after half-time. If we had scored it would”ve been a nine-point game, instead we got turned over… conceded a penalty and try to them.”
The unbeaten Lions (in first place), the Vodacom Blue bulls (second) and DHL WP (third) are all assured of their semifinal places a week before the conclusion of the league phase of the 2015 Absa Currie Cup, with a Province-Bulls semifinal on the cards later this month.
Said Dobson: “It looks like we”ll be up against online casino the Bulls at Loftus (in the semifinals). We like playing up there and if we did come back here – and that”s a big if based on this game – I think we would”ve learnt a helluva lot about our game and theirs.
“We know we”re in the semifinals, it”s just a matter of where we play, but we need to pick ourselves up from this and fast,” added the determined DHL WP boss.
Injury-wise, openside flanker Chris Cloete left the field early on with a calf muscle injury and could be in doubt for next week, but – in some good news – skipper Juan de Jongh got through his comeback game unscathed.
“It was always the plan to play Juan for 30-40 minutes and he held up well. Realistically, the game was over by half-time, so we had to be conservative with him,” said Dobson.
DHL Western Province will host the EP Kings at DHL Newlands on Friday, October 9 (kick-off 18h00), with match tickets priced at just R20 (standing) and R30-50 for seating.
* Earlier on Friday, meanwhile, the DHL WP Under-19 and Under-21 teams both recorded bonus point wins in their respective competitions, with talented lock JD Schickerling making his return to action from a career- and life-threatening neck injury in the U21 clash against the Lions.
