Dobson’s Leyds headache
Western Province coach John Dobson is left with a bit of a conundrum in terms of where to utilise the talents of Dillyn Leyds.
|||Cape Town – Western Province coach John Dobson is left with a bit of a conundrum in terms of where to utilise the talents of Dillyn Leyds.
The 22-year-old’s cameo off the bench in last Saturday’s Currie Cup match over Griquas sparked WP and put them on course towards a crucial bonus-point victory.
Leyds played on the wing for the Stormers this year because of a lack of depth in that position, and ended up topping the try-scoring charts for the Cape side.
At the start of the season, Dobson mentioned that Leyds will be the back-up for fullback Cheslin Kolbe because of his counter-attacking prowess – a position he played for the SA Under-20 team and also for the Ikeys in the Varsity Cup.
But Leyds is also being viewed as a possible option at flyhalf. He earned the nickname Quade – as in Quade Cooper – at Bishops for the tremendous skill and adventure he showed at No10.
However, while his kicking out of hand is decent, it could be too much of a risk to play him this weekend against the Sharks.
Right wing Kobus van Wyk hasn’t exactly been at his best since replacing Leyds in the WP starting XV, so it could again be a shootout between the two, to see who wears the No14 at Kings Park on Saturday night.
“Dillyn is an exciting player and he brings that unpredictability. He can attack the line and give you a wide game. He has got a good passing game and a good running game,” WP defence coach and former SA Sevens coach Paul Treu said this week.
“What Dillyn brings to the party is that he can exploit opportunities really quickly. We have seen it against Griquas with his counter attack from our 22. If you give him space he will cut the defence to pieces.
“For us it’s a plus. If we can turn the ball over, it’s in those situations where Cheslin, Dillyn and Seabelo (Senatla) can hurt other teams. It’s what made the team successful last season, and something that can, hopefully, make us successful this season”.
Kicking coach Vlok Cilliers, himself a former WP flyhalf, says Leyds could possibly do the job at No10 for Province, but is worried about the message that may send out to some of the young flyhalves at the union.
“Dillyn is a talented player but in saying that, we mustn’t forget that we still have a Rayno Eksteen, Robert du Preez and a Jean-Luc du Plessis,” Cilliers explained.
“He (Dillyn) is a guy like a Willie le Roux who can come in at flyhalf in the third or fourth phase and play a role there because he is such a talented player”.
Kurt Coleman, though, looks set to get an extended run in the No10 jersey, but one of the things he has got to improve on from last weekend’s match is his touch and penalty kicks.
Coleman is starting to find his radar again as far as his goal-kicking is concerned, but the distance of his punts put WP under a bit of pressure last weekend, a lack of confidence seemingly transferred from Super Rugby. - The Star