Cape Town – John Dobson was disappointed that his team let the Sharks back in the game, especially after two yellow card offences in the second half, but the character his Stormers eventually showed to seal the game with 13 players on the park, was brilliant to see.
The Stormers coach was elated after his team clinched a narrow 29-23 win over the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium to seal a clean sweep over their South African counterparts in the United Rugby Championship (URC).
At one stage the Stormers were 26-6 ahead and had a penalty in front of the posts. Three points would’ve taken them 23 points clear but instead, they went for the touchline where the Sharks defended well, cleared and scored from the resulting turnover ball.
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This passage of play led to the fightback by the Sharks that almost cost the Cape side their victory and ‘Grand Slam’.
“There were some disappointing elements in our game like that, but then the character of our team came through again (at the death),” Dobson said about those last 10 minutes where the Sharks almost secured a comeback victory.
“But with 13 players we looked comfortable in defence. It was a bit odd. In the end, I felt we were in control of the game. But jeepers, how many tries did we throw away in the second half?
“I thought we were going to give up the clean sweep and that would’ve been sad. I was very disappointed with our discipline in the second half, it was poor.”
The Stormers again dominated the Sharks’ scrum and their rolling maul came good too. But the home side wasted several opportunities created by to their set-pieces.
Dobson says he did not expect the scrums to go as well as they did, but he’s happy with it, especially as the playing surface suffered under the two packs colliding.
“The scrumming was superb and we have some big personnel coming back, but to have that dominance (in the game) today. I think we could’ve gotten some more reward from it.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard on the shape and depth of the group. Everyone here feels a sense of belonging, it doesn’t matter who they are.”
The Stormers will enjoy a break of two weeks before they’ll start preparing for an important clash with the table-topping Leinster in Ireland later this month.
