John Dobson says the DHL Stormers have “beefed-up in the right areas” as they look to get their Vodacom URC campaign off to a better start on the road following last season’s struggles. DYLAN JACK reports.
Dobson was speaking during a Vodacom URC Media Round Table, where he discussed the DHL Stormers’ preparations for the upcoming season.
Having hosted the grand final in the first two editions of the tournament, the Stormers battled to a fifth-place finish and a place in the quarter-finals last season – where they were beaten by eventual winners Glasgow Warriors.
The return of Steven Kitshoff and JD Schickerling has added significant experience and muscle to the Stormers’ pack, while Champions Cup-winning loose forward Dave Ewers is also in Cape Town on a short-term contract.
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“We feel like we have been there and thereabouts in all three URC seasons,” Dobson said. “Kitsie, JD Schickerling and Dave Ewers are three players we needed to add a bit of depth so we could compete. We just didn’t have the depth last season to compete in both competitions. We have beefed up in the right area, although Kitsie is out for six to eight weeks, which is a blow.
“We learned a lot about how effective Glasgow were at the maul, the lineout and how well they contested. It’s an area we needed to sharpen up and that’s where we boosted up on personnel and have spent a lot of our pre-season.”
The Stormers will get their season underway with a three-week tour, starting on 28 September against Ospreys in Swansea, after their round-one fixture against the Vodacom Bulls in Cape Town was postponed to late in the season.
Dobson emphasised to get much better results in the northern hemisphere, after the Stormers’ struggles on the road last season.
A winless four-game tour in the early stages of last season put them under immediate pressure, which they never quite rebounded from as they finished fifth overall.
“The tour made us much poorer last season. In fact, we had a dagger to our throat for the whole season,” Dobson said.
“I got much worse with rotating the team. For example, Ruben van Heerden was our best lock, so we kept playing him because we were so desperate to win. That meant the other locks in our squad didn’t get much rugby, which meant that they became poorer, so when they played, we judged them. The squad became a bit stratified.
“The year that we won the URC, we used 57 players. Last year, we used in the high 40s. That was because of our conservatism. Suddenly, those crazy offloads that we were famed for, we were taking a bit more seriously last season. It wasn’t an enjoyable season because of that start.
“So we need to get a win or two on tour. We hoped to start with a nice home game against the Bulls. We absolutely have to get off to a good start, because we were under pressure for the whole of last season. I thought we did well to fight to where we finished, but it was tough from the start.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
