John Dobson hails Western Province's progress despite missing out on Currie Cup semifinal

For the first time in its history the Currie Cup was played at the same time as both the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and the Heineken Champions Cup.

This meant that playing and coaching resources were spread thin at times, but despite these challenges, DHL Western Province still managed to pick up seven wins and fight for a place in the top four.

A team which had many exciting young players trying to prove themselves alongside some experienced heads who have seen it all before. There were three captains of the DHL Western Province team this season, with Juan de Jongh, Jean-Luc du Plessis and Neethling Fouche all leading the team out at different stages of the season.

The season started with impressive away wins against the Fidelity ADT Lions and the Vodacom Bulls and ended with a big 44-5 win against the Cell C Sharks at DHL Stadium.

The team knew before the final game kicked off that they would not be playing in the semifinals, but the level of performance at DHL Stadium is testament to the pride there is in playing in the blue and white hooped jersey.

Dobson said that although it was disappointing to fall just short of making the play-offs, there has undeniably been some impressive growth this season.

"In this Currie Cup campaign we have had some really good performances, a couple of defeats but if you think about the two games against the Vodacom Bulls and this win against the Cell C Sharks, they were pretty special," he said.

"We played five big knock-out games, three in the Vodacom URC and two in the Heineken Champions Cup. That probably took a toll on our Currie Cup campaign, but in the end we were just one point short of making the play-offs.

"We talked about pride and what our supporters want to see, which is an attractive brand and the players showing some fight."

Experienced players such as De Jongh, Du Plessis, Ali Vermaak, Godlen Masimla and Brok Harris all played a pivotal role in helping to nurture the next generation of stars coming through.

There were stand-out performances from the likes of Keke Morabe, Louw Nel, Kwenzo Blose, Luke Burger, Dylan de Leeuw Mnombo Zwelendaba and Connor Evans among others, who showed their potential to develop into future stars.

There were also many players who seamlessly made the step up to the DHL Stormers squad, showing the benefit of having the same coaching team across both squads.

Although disappointing to miss out on the Currie Cup play-offs, the undeniable growth and depth created across the squad means that the Faithful can be very excited about what is to come in the future from DHL Western Province.