Province 'discipline' a concern
Province thrashed Griquas 43-19 in their opening Currie Cup match in Kimberley last Friday.
And while all players came through the encounter unscathed, Dobson said the one aspect of the game he is concerned about is the discipline.
"It was terrible," the coach said of a match they dominated for large periods and came away with a comfortable bonus-point win.
Dobson said he was partly to blame for the many breakdown penalties.
"I told them [the players] to have a go," the coach said, adding: "I spoke to referee Jaco Peyper afterwards and he told me they are phasing in the new breakdown laws. We were a bit punchy there [at the breakdown].
"The worst thing is giving away a penalty in the opposition 22-metre area, because you give them an exit. We gave away five penalties in their 22."
Dobson was also cautious about their Round Two opponents, the Free State Cheetahs – who suffered a humiliating 19-57 loss at the hands of the Blue Bulls at the weekend.
"The Cheetahs are not nearly as bad as that [19-57] score suggest. I won't read too much into the Cheetahs versus Blue Bulls score.
"There are some nice signs [from the WP win], but they are not the Griquas side of old. Griquas could be facing a long Currie Cup."
The good news is that all players came through the season-opener in Kimberley unscathed – including hooker Bongi Mbonambi, who was in doubt in the lead-up to the match with a hamstring niggle.
Mbonambi played for 40 minutes on Friday, before being replaced at half-time as a precaution.
"We didn't want to risk Bongi after half-time, as he would've been inactive for 10 minutes and may have cooled down," Dobson said.
"However, the good thing is that we can most definitely get more game time out of him this week as he is 100 percent fit."
In some bad news on Monday, centre Johnny Kotze suffered a knock to his head in the morning session.
He should, according to Dobson, be available for selection this weekend, but he would need to pass a concussion test first.
Saturday will be Dobson's first senior match in charge of a Blue & White hooped team at Newlands and he is looking forward to the occasion.
"My father [Paul], who is turning 80 this year, used to drag me to Newlands as a kid in the late 1970s, so I think he's pretty pleased!
"Seriously though, it's a huge thing for me and I'm very excited at the prospect. As the new [head] coach, I'm especially excited about experiencing the full force of The Faithful behind the team."
