DOBSON HAPPY WITH STORMERS
WHILE their 34-33 loss to the Cheetahs in their first game of the SA Rugby Preparation Series is not the result they would have wanted, Stormers head coach John Dobson says he’s pleased with how they varied their game at their new home, Cape Town Stadium.
The hosts, who were criticised last year for their ‘over-reliance’ on their scrum, produced some good moments when they ran the ball and showed some fine touches on attack, but they had to play catch-up and, just as it seemed as though things were going the Stormers’ way, Rosko Specman ran in two quick tries to complete his hat-trick and ultimately spoil the Stormers’ housewarming.
“We didn’t really maul in the first half; we mauled in the second half, but we tried to balance it. I’m happy with how we tried to vary our play and we did mix it up,” Dobson said after the game.
In the build-up to the fixture at Cape Town Stadium, Dobson spoke about their objective of giving everybody an opportunity before the Rainbow Cup kicks off in April, and with that in mind, the team that ran out at the Stormers’ new home had a heavy flavour of young talent or relative inexperience with some seasoned campaigners in between.
“We would obviously had liked to have won the game. It’s a Preparation Series for a reason, so I’m reasonably happy. We showed a lot of fight and the guys that hadn’t had any rugby in a while showed a lot of guts,” Dobson said.
“It has been talked about, the reliance on Frans (Malherbe), Kitsie (Steven Kitshoff) and Bongi (Mbonambi), and it has been true, and that was one of the highlights; to see that front row play like that against a really good Cheetahs front row, so I’m really pleased with the depth.
“I’m also really happy for Sazi (Sandi) and Leon (Lyons). They’re bright young kids and they’ve seen what they’ll need to be able to do. We can’t just rely on three scrummagers, so I’m pleased with the depth there.”
Dobson confirmed that fullback Tristan Leyds, who scored the Stormers’ first try, would be out for around 10 weeks with a fractured finger, and explained that him leaving the field proved disruptive to their plans for the backline.
“We had planned to put Abner (van Rheenen) on at 10 and to put Kade at the back, so it was a disruption.
“Tristan had some really nice touches and it means so much to him. We want to bring him through, but he’s going to be out for a while, unfortunately. He’s going to be out for 10 weeks, which is a blow because we really wanted to bring him through in this Preparation Series.
“He fractured a finger and they need to operate; it’s one of those horrible ones where the bone almost comes through.”
When asked if he would stick with this team in the coming matches, Dobson said: “Ja, definitely. To build depth, we’re going to keep going with this team and I’m pleased with what I saw today; I think we’ll be better when we play Griquas.
“Towards the Lions and Bulls games we might bring a couple of other players back to get ready for the Rainbow Cup, but we’ll definitely stick with this group for now and give everybody a chance to contest for a place.”
The Stormers next face Griquas in Kimberley on Tuesday, March 9.