DHL Western Province will be looking to harness the pride and passion they showed in Durban on Saturday as they head into the Carling Currie Cup play-offs.
Head Coach John Dobson’s team found themselves in a do-or-die situation in the final league match of the competition, needing a bonus-point win to secure a place in the semifinals. They played with immense pride and commitment, scoring five tries on their way to a 35-24 win against the second-placed Cell C Sharks.
That performance set up a semifinal against the table-topping Vodacom Bulls this Friday night, with kick-off announced for 19h00, and Dobson said that they will be looking to display the same pride in the jersey when they travel to Pretoria for the knock-out match.
“We played with real energy and commitment, we were quite badly depleted so we are very proud of them to turn in a performance like that against a team as good as the Cell C Sharks.
“We are a proud team and to go up there to play against the Vodacom Bulls the way they are playing at the moment it is going to be a very tough ask, especially after having put so much in this week. I think we have seen that there is pride in this team and hopefully that will get us through on Saturday,” he said.
DHL Western Province are the only team to play all of their Carling Currie Cup fixtures this season and the injury toll has been severe. While it was not a first-choice team that ran out at Jonsson Kings Park, they showed what it means to them to be wearing the blue and white hoops.
Dobson was full of praise for the way they delivered under pressure, which will be key in the upcoming semifinal.
“Obviously the Sharks didn’t have the same amount on the line as we did, but I think we played with real desperation and pride. We had two flanks at lock, a wing at fullback and a centre on the wing, so to come and get that result in Durban was very special,” he said.
There are further injury concerns around loose forwards Hacjivah Dayimani (knee) and Deon Fourie (thumb), but they will hopefully both be available for the semifinal.
Dobson said that while he could not fault the commitment of the players, there are still some areas they can improve on going forward as they look to cause an upset in their away semifinal.
“There were some errors that we made, maybe in the first half we missed quite a few opportunities and in the second half the Sharks came back at us, but we stayed in the fight,” he said.