Province hoping to end trophy drought
Western Province Vodacom Cup coach John Dobson has ever seen his team lose only once in two years, and this weekend in Kimberley they have the chance to bring some senior silverware back to Newlands for the first time in eleven years.
WP have never made the final of the Vodacom Cup before (since the tournament started in 1998), so that in itself is a significant achievement, but Dobson is determined to see them cap a storming campaign with one last victory against an extremely competitive Griquas side on Friday.
"We are very chuffed to be in the final, but the real history will be winning it," he told this website.
The Western Province coach believes that their success this season can be attributed in part to the structures at the union which have churned out a steady stream of talented players over the last few years.
"I think the collective momentum of the youth structures at Western Province, last year's Vodacom Cup and the Stormers pre-season where we were one big squad has all contributed to our success," he explained.
A major challenge at the bigger unions is to forge a team from the players who did not make the Super Rugby squad into a unit that can compete in the Vodacom Cup, and Dobson believes that having the right attitude is vital.
He said: "There are two tiers to the Vodacom Cup teams, the one is the smaller unions where it is their premier team and Currie Cup team, and for the top franchises it is their second team. So for us it is about making them a happy bunch after the disappointment of not making the Stormers.
"My job is to make them realise that there is no individual path back to the Stormers, they have to produce at Vodacom Cup level so that is what I try to get across to them.
"As they have done that they have built a team that now genuinely wants to win this cup," added the Western Province coach.
By harnessing the hunger that these fringe Super Rugby players have to make the step up Dobson has managed to create a winning environment, despite the disruptions of losing players to either the Stormers squad or injury, but he was quick to pay tribute to the determination and focus of the players themselves and the support of the union as crucial factors to his success.
He said: "What you have got to remember is that half our players are not contracted. It is tough but these guys are absolutely amazing as amateurs because they train, behave and work like professionals but all they get are their match fees.
"I know it is the most junior of the senior trophies of course but the union has been incredibly supportive, we have been hit by injuries this week and they said 'Don't worry we will fly in extra players for you so that you can give a guy until the last minute to prove his fitness'," added Dobson.
With injury concerns over five of his key players this weekend there are a few more sleepless nights in store, but it is not a strange situation for the Vodacom Cup coach who has lost a steady stream of players as the Stormers injury list has lengthened this season.
"It was quite difficult when the Stormers were on tour and we had to bring in quite a few new players, and now we have got quite a few significant injury worries for this final but hopefully that will stand us in good stead because the guys we will be going back to now have played and trained with us," he said.
However, although winning the Vodacom Cup is a major goal and the focus at this stage, Dobson explained that he sees his main role as grooming players to make the step up to Super Rugby level.
"I think my main job is to produce players for the Stormers and the Western Province Currie Cup side. We obviously want to win the Vodacom Cup but our core job, and probably what we are judged on by the outside world, is to bring players through," he said.
The Western Province coach has lost flank Don Armand to the Stormers squad this week thanks to Nizaam Carr's knee injury (Carr having also initially been part of Dobson's squad), but his selection headaches do not end there as five of his frontline players are currently doubtful to start against Griquas due to injury.
Dobson revealed: "There are question marks over the availability of Quinn Roux, JP du Plessis, Michael van der Spuy, Demetri Catrakilis and Rohan Kitshoff.
"That has put us under pressure because we fly early on Thursday morning, but we should be ok because we have got enough depth. Out of those five I think about three will make it the other two we will have to see in Kimberley."
One positive is that he has retained his captain Nick Fenton-Wells who was in line to provide loose forward cover for the Stormers but will, instead, be able to line up at No.8 in Kimberley this weekend.
"With the potential disruption through injury, to have lost your captain would have been even tougher to smooth over the bumps, and to have him is a massive boost at a crucial time," said Dobson.
With their leader in place, Western Province are determined to give Griquas a full go on Friday, and Dobson explained that although they are playing away from home he is stressing the positives to his team.
"We actually like a hard, fast surface for our style of rugby, so from that point of view we are quite excited about it.
"We don't mind traveling because we travel quite well and what I think is good for us is although we have some sore bodies the Pumas are one of the most physical teams around, so the fact that we could front up to them last week means that there shouldn't be too many demons around the Griquas physically," he said.
By Michael de Vries
* Friday's match kicks-off at 7pm and will be televised live on SuperSport One and SuperSport HD1.