Western Province coach John Dobson says his guys played their worst match of the season in Saturday’s Currie Cup final defeat to the Sharks at Newlands.
The defending champions went into the home game as firm favourites to hold onto the title they won in Durban last year.
But after losing 17-12, Dobson says: “It was far and away our worst performance this season.
“The Sharks thoroughly deserve to win that game.”
Dobson highlights their lineouts as an area that cost Province in the encounter.
He explains: “It’s important to look at the facts - if you’re going to lose eight lineouts you’re making another 40 tackles.
“To get stripped and turned over is exactly the stuff we didn’t want to happen.
“It’s very hard to defend turnovers when we’re going backwards and they go forwards with such speed.
KICKING HIMSELF: SP Marais. Photo: CHRIS RICCO/BACKPAGEPIX
“If we’d won six of those lineouts, it could have been a different result.”
With their setpiece not secured, Dobson’s backline never got going and he describes the outing as a “car wreck day”.
He adds: “We never got going, we didn’t look like scoring.
“The only time we looked like scoring was with Sergeal Petersen.
“It was one of those car wreck days when the only way it had to bounce for Sergeal not to score was the way it bounced.
“There are a few other occasions like that.
“I also felt we kicked a bit early. And that was maybe a coaching error, I stressed the importance of territory.
“I just felt sad felt sad for the people coming to Newlands that we served up such a spectacle.”