Cup-winning WP coach signs on

Western Province's Vodacom Cup-winning coach, John Dobson, has signed a three-year deal with the union which will see him remain in Cape Town until 2015.

Dobson guided WP to their first-ever Vodacom Cup trophy just over a week ago, beating Griquas in Kimberley in a dramatic final, and his re-signing is a good boost for the future of the union's young talent.

Aside from his Vodacom Cup duties, Dobson is also the WP Under-21 coach; with Steven Kitshoff, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Nizaam Carr, Johann Sadie and JJ Engelbrecht (to name just a few) having played under him in recent years.

"I am thrilled to be able to confirm that I have committed to WP for another three years. Province rugby has been a big part of my life," Dobson told wprugby.com.

"One of my favourite memories as a boy was watching a WP Currie Cup and SA Cup Final on the same weekend and I am relishing the prospect of continuing to be part of the growth of Province," he added.

"The structures, depth, ethos and personnel, that are now already in place, make it a very exciting opportunity."

Dobson joined the WP set-up after the 2010 Varsity Cup - having coached the Ikey Tigers between 2008 and 2010, making an immediate impact with the Junior Currie Cup-winning WP Under-21 team that season. Since then he has lost only a handful of games at the helm of his two Blue & White hooped teams, with the Vodacom Cup team going unbeaten this year.

Upon speaking to this website about his new contract, Dobson revealed: "I really enjoyed the Vodacom Cup where we had a special group of players, brilliantly led by Nick Fenton-Wells, and in Dawie Snyman and Labeeb Levy I have brilliant assistant coaches which makes it so enjoyable.

"We have an amazing school, club and university system here which means there is so much exciting talent to work with (here)."

The highly-rated Dobson, who has a winning ratio of around the 90%-mark at WP, is obviously an important cog in the Province system. And, with him agreeing to stay on, that just leaves defence guru Jacques Nienaber's signature to complete Allister Coetzee's coaching plan that was announced back in February already.