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- WP coach John Dobson says they were “slaughtered” on the injury front during their loss to the Lions.
- Dobson has also questioned why they didn’t get more rewards for their dominant scrum.
- Captain Siya Kolisi adds that the way they lost at Ellis Park was “horrible.”
Western Province coach John dobson cut a dejected figure during Saturday night’s postgame press conference after his team’s 22-19 loss to the Lions at Ellis Park.
Dobson’s charges had failed again in the later stages, this time giving up a 19-9 lead in the final 10 minutes.
The week before, they lost their first Currie Cup encounter against a 14-man Bulls team after failing to defend a 20-15 lead late in the game.
Dobson said during an online press conference that injuries had contributed to his disappearance.
“We were absolutely slaughtered in terms of injuries during the game. We had three or four concussions, we have one or two in the hospital.
“At halftime, I think there were two forwards in the shape of the original starting eight. (Starting Hooker) Bongi (Mbonambi) and (replacement) Scarra (Ntubeni) took hits. I’m not sure what the diagnoses are.
“(Prop) Neethling Fouche is in the hospital with a concussion. (Lock) Salmaan Moerat suffered a concussion. (No.8) Trokkie Augustus suffered a concussion and has a neck strain. (Wing) Seabelo Senatla was injured the MCL (medial collateral ligament), “Dobson lamented.
The coach added that players struggling with a concussion would have to go through recovery protocols.
“Neethling is seriously shocked and someone like Salmaan might not be the case. He’ll go through normal qualifying. Seabelo with an MCL obviously won’t play next week. The rest we’ll have to see.”
But another area of the game that also annoyed the WP mentor was scrum time. The visitors seemed to have the upper hand in this department, but were penalized somewhat oddly by referee Griffin Colby a few times.
“Our constant message on how to deal with match officials, which changed over the week, was aimed at giving us a chance to scrum, which we felt we didn’t really get last week. But I don’t think I’ve seen restarts and penalties that neither We even looked like that, we were very frustrated at the scrum time.
“People say that Western Province shouldn’t trust their scrum. But then other teams have to build a scrum like ours. We have to consider if we’re really doing the right thing, because we can’t get rewarded for it. I think we gave away three penalties. scrum, which is our season total tied today. I thought we were the dominant scrum, so it was a bit frustrating for us. I need to see it correctly, “said Dobson.
Meanwhile, WP captain He is a school described the loss as “horrible”.
“You work really hard for 79 minutes, or 60/70 minutes. Then the little things, like not following the game plan, let you down.
“We had a plan and as soon as we deviated from the plan they took advantage of it. Even though we didn’t play as well as we wanted to, we were still in control. You’re leading 19-9, which you don’t.” It happens often, and then you throw it away like that.
“Honestly, it breaks you. We have another game next week where we’ll have to get up and move on, but it’s really horrible to lose like this, two weeks in a row,” Kolisi concluded.
Saturday’s loss, the third of the season, leaves WP third in the standings with 21 points, 11 behind the Bulls, three behind the Sharks and one ahead of the Lions.
Their next meeting is at home against the Pumas next Friday.
