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Cape Town - Western Province coach John Dobson does not believe there is a fundamental problem with his side's defence despite conceding eight tries against the Golden Lions this past weekend.
The 58-32 loss at Ellis Park has left Province fighting for their lives in the tournament, and they must now win all of their last three fixtures to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
That performance also prompted a Twitter vent from former Western Province and Stormers star Duane Vermeulen, who labeled the defence as "shocking".
But Dobson, while acknowledging the poor showing against the Golden Lions, does not think it is time to panic just yet.
“We all know it was disappointing," he said from the team's Bellville training complex on Tuesday.
"The Cheetahs are the log leaders and they came here (Newlands) and we outscored them three tries to two. The Sharks were the log leaders when they came here and we outscored them five tries to two.
"We conceded four tries in three games up until then so it’s not a problem.
"We made some crazy errors. It wasn’t the system or the defence coach ... It was four tries from 90 metres out through freak, so I’m not too worried.
"It was an appalling defensive effort, but I don’t think it’s where we are."
Dobson also gave his support to the coaching staff in charge of defence - Paul Treu and Norman Laker.
"Paul is in charge of the Union defence and the systems and Noman Laker does a lot of the hands on defence coaching here (Currie Cup side)," Dobson explained.
"Paul, in terms of the system and his research, analysis and work ethic ... is amazing.
"But I guess in rugby you’re going to get games like that where you feel that things go wrong and players let you down.
"That Sharks team (WP won 34-27) was really good last week and we defended … I promise you that Paul Treu or Norman Laker didn’t become a bad coach within seven days."
Province host the struggling Pumas, who are without a win all season, at Newlands on Saturday.
Kick-off is at 17:00.
