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Cape Town - Western Province coach John Dobson knows that his forward pack will have to stand up in their clash with the Sharks at Newlands on Saturday.
Dobson’s team picked up their first win of the Currie Cup Premier Division when they beat the Eastern Province Kings 36-6 in Port Elizabeth last week, and although he knows that there is much room for improvement, the Western Province mentor was pleased with the promise his team showed on attack in their six tries to nil victory.
“I was not pleased with the performance, or the ball control, but we are seeing some positive signs in terms of the attack,” Dobson told the WP Rugby website.
“We were a bit frustrated that we didn’t get more points, because we left plenty out there, but it was one step on the ladder.
“In what we tried to do in developing our attack, we made some significant progress,” he said.
Dobson knows that if they are to make it two wins this weekend, the forward pack will have to stand up and be counted.
“They (Sharks) have got a very big pack of forwards who are all Super Rugby players,” he said.
“It is a big challenge for us, and it is probably going to be decided by how our pack stands up.”
Loosehead prop JC Janse van Rensburg said that the forwards will certainly embrace the challenge up front this weekend.
“As a pack we need to step up big-time, it is a massive challenge coming this weekend, and it never changes in rugby - the match still gets won by the eight (players) in front.
“That is what us forwards live for, we enjoy those challenges,” he said.
Dobson confirmed that he will be without the services of centre Dan du Plessis who has a minor knee injury.
“Dan du Plessis is out for a couple of weeks after he tweaked his ACL, he didn’t pull it or tear it,” he said.
Saturday’s clash at Newlands is scheduled for 17:10.
