Dobson: Not easy being a loosehead
WP conceded numerous scrum penalties when Oli Kebble fulfilled that role in their 45-14 victory over the Eastern Province Kings at Newlands on Friday and Dobson feels that tighthead props are "getting away with murder."
"I would not like to be a loosehead in South Africa these days. A loosehead's elbow is a low hanging fruit for referees and Oli [Kebble] wasn't helping his own cause though but it seems like looseheads are getting cleaned and tightheads are getting away with murder.
"What's going on at loosehead now is that his elbow is a trigger for the refs and sometimes we don't understand why it's like that. It's something we need to look at in SA. The penalties we got were off their loosehead as well but I was pleased with the way we adapted and by the end, we were well on top," Dobson said.
The breakdown and ball carries remains a concern for Cape side and will need to drastically improve those areas if they are to walk away victorious in their semi-final match against the Blue Bulls at Loftus.
"Our ball security is still not where it should be but everything else is a bit better. We have got to get through phases if we want to win the Currie Cup and I don't think we got through enough [against the Kings]. I am very unhappy with our breakdown and our carries at the moment.
"On a positive note though, I'm pretty happy with where out pack is. We have some plans for the Bulls and if we implement those, I think we will be okay," he added.
WP welcomes back Cheslin Kolbe, Rynardt Elstadt, Johnny Kotze, Jano Vermaak and Seabelo Senatla – who are all 100 percent fit – while there is still some concern about hooker Siyabonga Ntubeni.
Dobson was pleased to have all these players returning and knows he phases a selection headache ahead of their semi-final encounter.
"We sort of know the team for next week [semi-final] but there are a couple of areas where there will be debate. We don't have much depth at loose forward.
"Centre is one that we really need to think about because everyone is in good form and each player offers something different, so it will be tricky to get that combination right," he stated.
Many would say WP's campaign, thus far, has been nothing less than average. However, Dobson stated he feels the achievement of his young side cannot be overlooked, although a full assessment would be made at the end of the campaign.
"At this stage, I would rate us as seven out of 10. We have had a tough spell of injuries but are still in a position to win the competition. However, that value will change, depending on the result at Loftus.
"Our initial goal was to make the semi-finals and we achieved that with two games left in the competition. To do that with probably the youngest team in the competition, is something to be proud of.
"But if we lose at Loftus, the guys will be devastated and we will regard this campaign as not successful, so the rating will be a lot less than seven," he said.
