Thanks to a strong team culture DHL Western Province overcame numerous challenges to win 13 out of 14 matches and top the Currie Cup Qualifier standings.

Thanks to a strong team culture DHL Western Province overcame numerous challenges to win 13 out of 14 matches and top the Currie Cup Qualifier standings.

Although their place in the Currie Cup Premier Division was assured before a ball was kicked this season, coach John Dobson’s team showed great character and pride in the DHL Western Province jersey in a remarkable campaign.

They clinched top spot with a convincing 71-7 final-round victory against Namibia in Windhoek, but their season had started in much tougher circumstances with a number of obstacles in their way.

“Our first challenge was trying to to get the best possible team together, because the Varsities were still playing and the DHL Stormers were working with a fairly large squad and had sustained quite a large number of injuries.

“We also worked very closely with Jerome Paarwater and the talent identification programme.

“We went to play Boland in a pre-season friendly and got well beaten. Some of our guys had not played since the middle of October last year.

“We then started with a few hard games against the other teams tied to Vodacom Super Rugby franchises,” said Dobson.

However, with good support from the Western Province Rugby Football Union and a positive team culture in place, Dobson’s team made a strong start to the season.

“We had a lot of amateur players involved and the Union supported us a lot to enable those players to train and perform like professionals, and it started getting going.

“When we got the group together then they had a great work ethic and were all pleased and honoured to be representing Western Province. As soon as we had a group, then the guys took off and they gelled very quickly. They are a very good bunch of people,” said the DHL Western Province coach.

Dobson paid tribute to the role that his captain Chris van Zyl played in bringing the diverse squad together and uniting them under the team culture.

“Chris van Zyl was the skipper and he is a remarkable captain on and off the field who gets the guys together nicely. What was nice was that it was a completely integrated group with guys from different backgrounds and different languages who just gelled and came together nicely.

“We had a good culture and value system in place, so no matter who came in they bought into that.

“Even though we used 52 players I would suggest that all 52 are mates with each other,” said Dobson.

Whilst there were many challenges along the way, Dobson feels that the way his side handled it all speaks volumes about their character as a group, which certainly bodes well for the future success of the Union.

“It is not an easy group to manage because you have got so many different imperatives. You have got to prepare players for the DHL Stormers, you have got to win, you have got to give opportunities to club guys and there is the pride of representing Western Province. So to balance everything is sometimes tricky, but I think we got it right this year,” he said.