Dobson lauds Stormers for Champions Cup win

There were obvious flat spots that will invite a training field inquest but Stormers coach John Dobson pointed to the spikes in his team’s performance and the result of their Champions Cup match against Harlequins on Saturday.

The Stormers advanced to the quarterfinals with a 32-28 win over the plucky English side at the Cape Town Stadium and there was much to enthuse about for the home team.

Harlequins finished with a flourish and took some gloss off the Stormers’ effort with three late tries, but Dobson is far more focused on what transpired in the first 73 minutes of the game.

“I thought it was superb. Everything went according to plan,” he said, adding that his players won the key battles.

He rightly pointed out the game was well won by the time Harlequins delivered a late rearguard action.

“They are a very good team and we had to defend well, which we did.

“Our plan to put them under pressure at halfback worked.

“We slowed their ball down nicely with Deon [Fourie] and ‘Kitsie’ [Steven Kitshoff] both outstanding.

“Being 32-7 up after 74 minutes in our first Heineken Cup knockout game was pretty special against a team with their quality.”

His team didn’t have things entirely their own way in the set pieces, but they delivered moments deserving of any highlights reel.

The impetus for their opening try was a Manie Libbok cross-kick that saw the hosts shift direction to the other side of the field, where Hacjivah Dayimani’s adroit offload to Suleiman Hartzenberg ripped open the Harlequins’ defence.

The wing found Fourie, who sprinted in unchallenged.

“We are who we are,” Dobson said.

“How we play was actually perfect for this game.

“Huge character on defence and work rate.

“You can’t say to Manie, ‘You are playing for a quarterfinal spot in the Heineken Cup, we just have to play territory’.

“That first try we scored is exactly the kind of rugby we want to play.

“That is underpinned by huge work rate in defence and a good set piece.

“We are going to be a brave team.”

Damian Willemse, after an uncharacteristically flat first half, produced a moment of breathtaking dare and skill when he dotted down next to the corner flag. His whole body was outside the field of play when he touched down but he was entirely airborne at that moment.

“I told him he was going to be on my Instagram feed the whole week.

“It was special, he’s a special player. Everything he does is so clinical,” star of the match Fourie said.

The win confirmed the Stormers’ upward trajectory among European rugby’s elite.

“Last year we were desperate to prove we were a proper force in club rugby,” Dobson said, highlighting his team’s 21 games unbeaten at home that won the URC shield, and they were now in the quarterfinals of the Heineken Cup and second in the URC.

He said the franchise’s administration brought some stability but that fiscal challenges remained.

“But we are thrilled to be here,” he said.

“I think it was quite important to get to the quarterfinals of the Heineken Cup because there is quite a big difference between the last 16 and the quarterfinals. It was good for our morale.”

The Stormers will either play Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park or Montpellier in Cape Town in Saturday’s quarterfinals.