Cape Town - Although he feels his team could have won more handsomely, John Dobson praised the character of his Western Province players after defeating the Pumas in Friday's Currie Cup action in Athlone.
Province beat the defending champions 22-14 and in the process denied them a bonus point as well, while closing the gap on the competition's log.
The Pumas are third on 35 points, while WP stays fourth on 31 points for another weekend.
Dobson was happy with the win and called it a crucial one in their quest for a semi-final place. He also waxed lyrical about how the young side is staying in the Currie Cup fight.
But, he warned them in the same breath that the end game is not yet in sight and the Lions clash on Friday, also at the Athlone Stadium, could be a turning point for their season.
"It's diep lekker this feeling, as they say in Afrikaans," Dobson said about the fighting victory over the reigning champions.
"If you put a hooker, who has never played flank, at flanker like Chad (Solomon) did and to get a win like that. We were so dominant in the first half but made so many mistakes in the second half.
The character at the end, as JL [Jean-Luc du Plessis, the captain] mentioned in the changeroom, feels like a really big win for us.
"This game was critical for us to stay in the competition. If we lost this, the competition could have gotten away from us.”
He was happy that their plans worked out perfectly in the first half, but lamented the costly mistakes in the second half that almost took the game away from them.
Against a full-strength Lions side, packed with United Rugby Championship players, Province will have to be at their sharpest if they want to secure a win.
"That Lions game will be very, very, very important. And that's why it will be a really challenging week for us. You have the URC final, and a must-win Lions game (in the Currie Cup).
"And with distractions and sideshows, it's a challenge. But we saw the character tonight (Friday). I have no doubt we can do it.”
Jimmy Stonehouse, coach of the Pumas, said his team needs to sort out their individual errors if they want to defend their Currie Cup title successfully.
They also struggled in the scrums against two young Province props. And that came as a surprise as the scrum and rolling maul are the two main weapons of the team from Mbombela.
"You can't scrum like we did, you are supposed to come here and dominate the tight facets, but both our two tightheads folded. It's like they did not exist," Stonehouse bemoaned their scrum struggles.
"That is where we lost the game. You can't get penalty after penalty against you at the scrum. The individual errors for the last three games, it is costing the Pumas as well.
"It's not that we don't put in the effort, it's the individual brilliance that is missing. Players need to accept responsibility for individual mistakes. You have to get back on Monday (at training) and make it work again."
@Leighton_K
IOL Sport