Stormers director of rugby John Dobson is focusing on the positives ahead of their return to United Rugby Championship (URC) action in their South African derby with the Lions on Saturday.
The men from the Cape have found the going extremely tough of late and they head into this weekend’s clash in Cape Town with their backs to the proverbial wall as they are languishing in 13th spot on the URC table while their much improved opponents occupy fifth position in the standings.
The Stormers are currently on a four-match losing streak after suffering URC defeats against Glasgow Warriors and the Sharks as well as losses against Toulon and Harlequins in the Champions Cup.
The latter defeat at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday saw the Stormers suffering a humiliating 53-16 reversal on Saturday and Dobson identified his side’s defence as a key area of focus in the build-up to their clash with the Lions.
‘A very disappointing performance’
“We pride ourselves on our defence, we think we’ve got one of the best in world club rugby, but Harlequins undid us there,” he said. “Two yellow cards last week, three this week… A very disappointing performance.
“We would’ve liked to have competed more and for the scoreline to be better, and I think we could’ve if a couple things had gone our way, but we’ve got to look at ourselves.”
The Stormers have been decimated by injuries and with several Springboks currently sidelined Dobson fielded a much changed matchday squad against Harlequins.
He admitted that their form in the Champions Cup – they are currently at the bottom of their pool after two matches – has been severely affected by missing players.
“I think if we came here (The Stoop) full noise – (if) Damian Willemse was available, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff, two of the world’s best props – it’s just a different team.
“That would’ve been a classic game. We got ourselves into a hole with a tough Vodacom URC start and an injury list like I’ve never seen in my career.
“But it’s like being invited to someone’s birthday party and complaining about the food – we’re so grateful to be here, and I desperately want us to be able to compete.
“It’s just poor timing. What we do know about this tournament, and we were reminded of it by Harlequins, it’s a step up. We’ve got teams into the quarter-finals and then we got hammered. But we’re keen to get there.”
Despite conceding 50 points against the Premiership outfit, Dobson was encouraged by some individual performances from debutants and other inexperienced players.
“I thought the new guys who haven’t played much for the DHL Stormers were superb,” he said.
‘Those guys took their opportunities really well’
“Vernon Matongo, Louw Nel were really good. Jonathan Roche when he came on for his debut… Those guys took their opportunities really well.
“Connor Evans was good, Sazi Sandi showed plenty of improvement. It was a curious game, I don’t think any of those guys played particularly poorly but we got well beaten.”
The Stormers boss revealed that they had a couple of injury concerns following the clash with Harlequins.
“Connor Evans looks like a reasonably important ankle injury, and Louw Nel pulled a hamstring, but that’s it,” said Dobson.
READ MORE: Opinion: Want South African clubs to succeed in Europe? Bring the Springboks into the Six Nations
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/weve-got-to-look-at-ourselves-john-dobson-identifies-key-work-on-needed-to-end-stormers-losing-streak
