John Dobson expressed relief and delight as the DHL Stormers bounced back from a tough tour by beating Munster in Cape Town, thanks in part to Damian Willemse’s excellent performance.
After a three-week European tour that yielded one win, the DHL Stormers scored four tries on Saturday night to claim a full house of points against Munster in their home opener.
The win also marked the Stormers’ first triumph over Munster in five encounters in the Vodacom URC.
However, for Dobson, it was more important that the Stormers responded to a tour that ended in a disappointing defeat in Edinburgh.
“The feeling is pure relief. This was a really tough week,” Dobson said. “For me, the record against Munster wasn’t a massive thing. If we had another loss, it could’ve done more damage.
“Last year, we felt that pressure after the 0-4 tour. There was a knife to our throat for the whole season. If we had lost tonight, we really would’ve been on the dust road. We have another one to do next week, then I think we will be in a really good spot.
“I don’t think either team was brilliant. Munster are a really good team and a much tougher team than we sometimes realise. I don’t think we were compelling. There were some obvious things, we had the top lineout before tonight, but we lost five or six. We gave away too many penalties in the middle of the field to give Munster easy entries into our 22.
“Where I think we were absolutely magnificent was defensively. It’s a really good attacking team. They needed us to give away penalties to get any entries. So I thought this was a very good defensive effort. We were a team fighting for a win.”
Damian Willemse kicked 14 points – including a late drop-goal – in a real general’s performance at flyhalf, bouncing back from an indifferent performance in Edinburgh.
“He was really good, wasn’t he?” Dobson said. “We get crucified for playing Damian in different positions, but he is such a strong team man. He will never sit there and ask us to choose between him and Warrick Gelant at fullback. He is all about being wherever the team needs him.
“Last week, he made mistakes against Edinburgh, but they weren’t related to him playing at flyhalf. His last game at flyhalf was a Test match at Twickenham almost two years ago. Given that, you could almost expect a couple of mistakes when he was thrown in at 10 at a high-level competition in Edinburgh.
“Today, he was really, really good. He went down with a knock to his pec, but he said he wanted to keep playing. He is an extraordinarily committed guy and an absolute treasure.”
Next up, the DHL Stormers will face the Glasgow Warriors at Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch, before the URC breaks for the November international window.
“We have spoken about it, especially because it comes before the break,” Dobson said. “Guys are going to go two paths afterwards, some on a plane to Jersey [for the Springbok camp] and some on break. But there is so much desperation from within this team to do well.
“We don’t have a good record against Glasgow, but all three of the last games have been at Scotstoun. They are the defending champions and it’s our last home game before the break.
“It’s a big one for us. If we get it right, it means we have won three out of five, having already toured, so we will be hard in the mix. There will be some needle to the game, because we’ve had some bad experiences up at Scotstoun. It’s going to be a vibe in Stellenbosch.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
