Cape Town — A high-flying Western Province will have a new coach this week with Stormers performance analyst and skills coach Labeeb Levy taking charge of the team for their clash against the Sharks in Durban.
He will be assisted by kicking coach Gareth Wright and forwards consultant Hanyani Shimange as John Dobson, the permanent coach, and the rest of the Stormers coaching team will head off to Ireland in search of a first away victory against Leinster in the United Rugby Championship.
Province are currently unbeaten in the Currie Cup and will aim to keep it that way when they take on the Sharks, who will also have to field two teams this weekend due to commitments in the URC.
After their 41-33 victory over the Blue Bulls last Friday at Loftus, Dobson alluded to the fact that he will only take two or three players of that team with the Stormers to Dublin.
This means Levy and Wright will be able to keep consistency in selection thanks to the depth WP and the Stormers have built over the last couple of seasons.
"Labeeb will stay with the Currie Cup team for the start of next week, but we will get to the game," Dobson said.
The good news for him is that the Stormers play Leinster on Friday with the Currie Cup match only on Sunday.
"But Labeeb will run the programme with Shimmy (Shimange) and Gareth Wright. We have done a lot of prep work already. It won't be fair for us to fly in on the day of the game and take over from Labeeb.
"So he will run things, but we will be there on Sunday."
Dobson was pretty chuffed after his team thwarted a URC-laden Bulls Currie Cup side.
Once again a massive effort on defence, coupled with some brilliant Stormers blueprint running rugby, saved the day.
For the second game in a row, flyhalf Kade Wolhuter kicked his team to a victory while his attacking play was also outstanding.
Fullback Clayton Blommetjies was outstanding as well, as his kicking kept the Bulls forwards turning around, while he was the most potent attacker for his team.
Dobson will also be happy with the form of inside centre Jean-Luc du Plessis and how he has transitioned from the No 10 to 12 jersey. His bulldozing runs create quick front-foot attacking possession, and he assists Wolhuter excellently in the No 10-12 channel on defence.
And despite struggling in the scrums, especially in the first half, the WP forwards acquitted themselves well in other departments. They might lose a player or two to the Stormers, but should still be able to field a pack that can stand up to the Sharks.
IOL Sport