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Struggling WP know they must improve

Cape Town - Western Province captain Chris van Zyl has called on his team to ‘stand up’ when they travel to Kimberley to face the Griquas on Friday.

After a 31-23 bonus-point win against the Pumas at Newlands on Saturday, Western Province face a tough trip to Kimberley, where they have to win to keep their Currie Cup semi-final hopes alive.

Although there are still a number of areas in which he would like to see further improvement, Van Zyl was proud of the way the forward pack squared up against a physical Pumas pack, and called for another big effort against Griquas.

“It was tough and I think we definitely stood up against that Pumas pack, and we can take some confidence out of that,” Van Zyl told the WP Rugby website.

“It is going to be a similar type of challenge that we are going to face against Griquas, and we are going to have to stand up,” he said.

Coach John Dobson said that despite ongoing concerns about his team’s discipline, they have taken some much-needed confidence from the four tries they scored at Newlands.

“Our discipline is a major concern, we won’t win in Kimberley next week, which we need to do, if our discipline is like that,” said Dobson.

“It was important to get the confidence of the four tries, so I think there is a bit of excitement now about next week.

“Given all of our issues, we are fighting,” he said.

Dobson knows that Griquas will ask some serious questions of his team, in a match that could well define their campaign.

“They have got their 130th anniversary, and they are having a great season. They have said before this game that they are targeting the Western Province game, so we are under no illusions.

“It is a quarter-final for us, and again they are a big, older pack, and some really good strike runners. They are a big, physical team, but I think we are much more alive for it and confident than we were a few weeks ago,” he added.

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