Province can get the balance right with Stander

CURRIE CUP SPOTLIGHT: Josh Stander was excellent in the No.10 jersey for Western Province in the league phase of the Currie Cup and he probably should have started in the semifinal against the Blue Bulls.

Province head coach John Dobson decided to go with Springbok Damian Willemse in the No.10 jersey and the 20-year-old did not have the best of outings in WP’s tense 35-32 extra-time win at Newlands.

The Cape side lacked a bit of direction on attack and some poor decisions were made, especially with the Bulls adopting a rush defence.

Stander has been a general at flyhalf for Province throughout their campaign and his all-round game would have probably been better suited for a play-off game.

Province will play the Sharks in the Final in Cape Town on Saturday and Stander could be the right option for the No.10 spot.

“We used to take the right options throughout the season and I think on Saturday we didn’t take the right options,” said Western Province assistant coach Dawie Snyman.

“It was about making sure that we stick to the plan that we had, and we went off it a little bit and that is where we felt the pressure.”

Snyman added: “I think we will stick to our strengths [for the Final]. Obviously, play-off rugby is a bit different, but we must get our balance right.

“At stages when we were attacking this weekend we probably weren’t [switched] on and at stages when we kicked we did not kick well and that was one of our strengths this season.”

The last time Province and the Sharks met was in Round Seven with Capetonians recording a 50-28 win at Newlands. Due to the nature of play-off rugby, very few people are expecting a scoreline like that at Newlands on Saturday.

“I think it will be a different game. I know we put 50 points against the Sharks but at a certain stage in that game was quite tight at 31-28 where they had the momentum in the match.

“It’s a new 80 minutes. There are maybe one or two things we can take out of that game like the opportunities we created, but we will see this as 0-0 and we will take it from there,” said Snyman.

By Warren Fortune
@FortuneWarren
@rugby365com

#OurSharks are heading down to Cape Town for the Currie Cup Final and will be looking to put the DHL WP Rugby StormKlap on ICE!#WPvSHA#WhereLegendsRise pic.twitter.com/YEWqZojMXa

— The Sharks (@TheSharksZA) October 22, 2018