Stormers are in seventh heaven

STORMERS coach John Dobson praised his team's character in their 32-7 United Rugby Championship (URC) victory over Glasgow Warriors at the weekend.

It was a rather slow start for the hosts against the Scottish outfit, with the visitors taking an early 7-0 lead. But that would be all they could manage at Cape Town Stadium.

The Stormers fought back to take a 13-7 lead at half-time after a moment of brilliance by Damian Willemse saw Rikus Pretorius run in the first of their four tries.

The second half was owned by the Cape side as they ran in three more tries to secure a bonus-point win to move up to second on the standings.

It marked the Stormers' seventh consecutive win at home and, after the South African sides' early struggles when they joined the competition, the Stormers have every reason to be pleased with their upward curve.

Speaking after the game, Dobson said it was a pleasing result given the position the international-laden Glasgow were in before the encounter.

“Credit to Kitsie (Steven Kitshoff), he made some very good decisions around our penalties and around our line-out moves. We have been spoiled with our starts in recent games. So we showed some good character this time,” said Dobson.

“Glasgow came into the game comfortably third on the log, a really good team with a lot of internationals, so it was a very pleasing result.

“Our goal at the start of the season was to make the play-offs and from where we were over a year ago, this is a great achievement.”

The Stormers will take on Leinster in their last home game on Saturday, before travelling to Wales to take on Scarlets.

Dobson added that the most recent result has put them in a good position as they prepare to face the log-leaders.

“It does take a bit of pressure off the next match. But we still need to win at least one of our last two to make sure that we qualify for the Champions Cup, so that is what we need to do.”

The win came at a price, however, as hooker Scarra Ntubeni hobbled off the field early in the second half.

After the game, Dobson said Ntubeni's injury “didn't look trivial” and that the experienced front-rower would have to go for scans.