Dobson wants to empower his players
STORMERS coach John Dobson admits that some of the rugby played by his team last season was “uncomfortable” to see, but he is determined to add a few attacking weapons ahead of the Rainbow Cup.
That process starts in the Preparation Series on Saturday at Cape Town Stadium against the Cheetahs (5.15pm kick-off), where a number of exciting talents such as fullback Tristan Leyds (younger brother of Dillyn), 19-year-old flyhalf Kade Wolhuter and former Western Province Under-21 captain Marcel Theunissen will look to bring some youthful energy to the team.
Last season, the Stormers and Province relied on their experienced pack to win scrum penalties, while their kickers played the territory game and opted for the three points from the tee.
It was laborious to watch and out of touch with the ingrained attacking mindset in Cape teams, and Dobson – a born-and-bred WP man – is well aware of it.
That is why he mixed and matched the team he announced yesterday, with Springboks such as Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe also extending their break until closer to the Rainbow Cup.
“We took the whole rugby product – and I am a Western Province fan – it was uncomfortable to maybe see some of the stuff we played. It wasn’t unique to us. We have just come off a call with SA Rugby where we were looking at how the defences have dominated the play,” Dobson said yesterday.
“So, it wasn’t just us, but we feel it acutely because we are in this region – we like to play rugby.
“We decided the responsible thing was to get ready for PRO16.
“And none of that is aesthetically pleasing, but I think we’ve made massive progress in all those things.
“Our next phase is to play rugby that more suits this DNA, but we cannot go back from this territory (game).
“The reality is that we are going to be at Glasgow on a Friday night in the snow.
“So we would like to play more attacking rugby, and empower players. Maybe in the last competition, we were very prescriptive – about zones on fields. Now it is going to be more about Tristan Leyds and Kade Wolhuter, and Timmy (Swiel) when he plays, Damian (Willemse), being allowed to make those decisions.”
Dobson added that his top Boks will feature at some point in the Preparation Series, but for now, he just wants to see progress from the training pitch.
“We would like to see the green shoots of what we’ve tried to introduce in this short pre-season we’ve had.
“So, if we play nice rugby and got very close to a win, or (get) a win, then I think we will be pretty satisfied,” he said.
STORMERS
Starting XV: 15 Tristan Leyds, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Cornel Smit, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marcel Theunissen, 5 Chris van Zyl (capt), 4 David Meihuizen, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Ali Vermaak
Replacements: 16 Chad Solomon, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Johan du Toit, 20 Ernst van Rhyn, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Abner van Reenen, 23 Mnombo Zwelendaba