Stormers know they are in for a ‘real battle’

WHILE they are well aware of the threats the Ospreys pose, Stormers coach John Dobson says his concern is that they don't appreciate how good the Welsh outfit are.

The Stormers will host the topranked Welsh side at Cape Town Stadium tomorrow. And while they took a 45-15 beating against the Lions last weekend, Dobson knows that complacency can be detrimental as his team look to add another win to their run.

“My concern is that we don't appreciate how good the Ospreys are. They are the top Welsh franchise. They are big and direct. If you throw in an Adam Beard or a Gareth Anscombe, it's a proper team,” Dobson said.

“Part of the journey of us adapting to the URC, is that these aren't brands yet, but we know they are good teams. So, for example, the Hurricanes or the Waratahs are well-known brands from Super Rugby. Whereas maybe an Ospreys or a Scarlets are still relatively unknown in South Africa.

“As a group and a team, we are very well aware of their threats. We know at Ellis Park the score got away from the Ospreys at the end and they stuck in that fight for a long time.

“With a reinforced team down at sea level, we know we are in for a real battle.”

Last weekend, the Stormers narrowly beat Ulster to move up to sixth on the United Rugby Championship standings.

It wasn't a game that the topranked SA team will look back at fondly, however, as they were made to defend for the larger part of the second half against an Irish side that came out stronger after the break.

While the hosts didn't do themselves any favours in the second half, Ulster's kicking game also put them under pressure.

But now, going into their next clash, the Cape side know where they went wrong in their 23-20 victory.

“We had a look at it and we feel now that a lot of it was self-inflicted,” Dobson said. “To go from a four-penalty count to 13 and give nine entries to a team as clinical and systems-based as Ulster was quite a big difference for us. It was a bit of both.

“We allowed ourselves to get a little bit trapped. A lot of it was down to poor kick execution or poor decision-making, rather than us playing some stratospheric other team. Ulster did play really, really well, though, and I thought John Cooney was magnificent, he is one of the best scrumhalves in Europe.

“We know that if teams do what Ulster did to us again, we will know how to deal with it. A lot of it was down to execution.”

The Stormers' game against the Ospreys kicks off at 6.15pm tomorrow.