Having claimed a vital bonus-point win at Newlands on Wednesday, DHL Western Province is determined to sharpen their game further in the last two games of the regular season.
The team showed good composure and control to score four tries against the Sigma Lions to bounce back from their disappointing draw against the New Nation Pumas a few days before and now face two away games in Kimberley and Durban ahead of the play-offs.
Head Coach John Dobson said that he was pleased with the way his team stuck to the plan and managed to exert enough pressure on the opposition to get the morale-boosting result they were looking for.
“What was nice about tonight is that we had a plan for the game and it worked.
“I don’t know if our backs were against the wall because of where we found ourselves in the tournament or because we had some pride. Obviously, I would like to think it’s the latter.
“It was important for us, not just on the log but also for the morale after the way we let things slip last week.
“Our plan was to put them under pressure because they have guys who would want to run it back. The conditions were tough, so the plan was to put them in a pressure trap, which I think we executed fairly well. I just wish we had done that in the last 10 minutes on Sunday.
“We are happy with the way we had a plan and put them under pressure. What is nice is there is stuff that we worked on over the last couple of weeks like our attack and our maul defence which were better,” he explained.
While satisfied with the result, Dobson knows that there are still aspects of his team’s game that can improve, with the kicking game and restarts a major focus.
“There are quite a few things that we can improve on, our kicking game wasn’t as accurate as we would like it to be.
“I still think some of our kicks weren’t as accurate as we would have liked, but we had the principle right of trying to pin them back and then defending really well.
“Restarts are a big weakness of ours, if we get it right systematically then we tend to drop the ball. If you were to ask me what the biggest work-on in our game is, it is the restart returns.
“It is a big work-on for us, both in terms of the execution of the actual catch and then the system of who is kicking off nine or 10 and which side.
“I also don’t think we converted enough of those opportunities around the 22 that we could have,” he said.
Looking ahead to the trip to Kimberley on Sunday, Dobson said that there will have to be significant changes to the team given the demanding schedule which will see them play three games this week.
“Just from player welfare we are going to have to change up, these guys largely played on Sunday and Wednesday with changes forced on us through injuries, so we are going to have to change. I just don’t think that three games in eight days are the responsible thing for me to do with these players.
“Going to Griquas away and then the Sharks, we are going to need the same spirit,” he added.