‘Imperious’ Stormers give Dobson hope

John Dobson is convinced the DHL Stormers are primed to rebound from a roller-coaster performance against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.

The Stormers had a last-gasp Manie Libbok try called back after the TMO spotted a knock on from the flyhalf, consigning the visitors to a 21-15 defeat to the Sharks at a sold-out Kings Park.

Having trailed 14-0 in the opening 20 minutes, the Stormers wrestled back control of the contest, but failed to capitalise on opportunities in surrendering to their coastal rivals for the first time in the Vodacom URC.

“We created so many opportunities,” Dobson said. “To be fair, the Sharks also probably bottled one or two.

“We were profligate and wasteful. I can name six opportunities off the top of my head. That was probably the difference in the end.

“We can look back thinking we could’ve won the game right at the end there, but 40 minutes before that we lost the game because of the errors we made up until that point.

“I thought we were imperious in the second half. 65 minutes in, I thought we had the game under control. What happened at the end was a bit of a bonus to be honest.”

Despite a fourth defeat of the campaign, Dobson is confident that the signs are there for the Stormers to right their campaign, especially with stalwarts Frans Malherbe and Salmaan Moerat set to return in the coming weeks.

“Today gave me hope, even though we are sitting with a defeat. We were without five or six of our Springboks. To come here and fight like we did gives me hope about the team. I saw a lot of our DNA out there. On other days, those aren’t going to go down like that.

“I feel quite confident that we can put together a proper run now, especially as those Springboks come back. To come here and do what we’ve done, in a funny way, gives me hope. There are way more positives and it gives us a good place to launch from.

“There is a pressure to start accumulating log points in the URC.”

The Stormers will next turn their attention to the opening round of the Champions Cup, where they will host French giants Toulon in Gqeberha (7 December), before travelling to take on Harlequins in London.

“This result hasn’t changed anything for next week,” Dobson said. “We do have to make sure that in the URC we get into the top eight. But we are going to respect the European competitions.

“Next week, we face Toulon and we will see what happens there. The local URC derbies are non-negotiable. We are not going to bail on the Champions Cup now because we lost.

“This game wasn’t in the budget. We knew we were coming to a very good, Springbok-laden Sharks team. This wasn’t a derailment in any form.

“In fact, I saw a lot that gives me hope. Next week’s game is one we will go and enjoy and play. There isn’t any pressure. The big pressure is in the URC. We will go and attack the Champions Cup and enjoy it.”

Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images

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