AUDIO: Disappointed Dobson excoriates wayward Stormers
03/30/2025 02:00 AM
Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson did not hide his frustrations with the high error count and lack of discipline in their 34-38 loss to Ulster in a United Rugby Championship Round 14 encounter in Belfast at the weekend.
The Stormers left Ravenhill with two valuable bonus points, still firmly in the play-off race.
However, the high turnover and penalty count were two issues that featured prominently in Dobson's post-match review.
The Stormers were reduced to 14 men for most of the second half, with captain Neethling Fouche shown a red card for a dangerous tackle.
He will face a disciplinary hearing and a likely ban, which will impact the start of the Stormers' home run - when they face Connacht (April 19), Benetton (April 26), Dragons (May 10) and Cardiff (May 16) in Cape Town in the last four rounds.
The Connacht game, coming after a two-week European interlude, now takes on more significance.
Another loss against an equally desperate Irish province could be very costly in the final push for the top eight.
(LISTEN as a bitterly disappointed Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson expresses his frustrations with the lack of discipline in their costly URC loss to Ulster....)
"For large parts of the game we were our own worst enemies," Dobson said of the loss in Belfast at the weekend.
After a brilliant start - which saw the Cape Town franchise race into a 17-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes - it all started to go pear-shaped.
Star playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was yellow-carded on the stroke of half-time for a cynical off-the-ball incident and in the 44th minute captain Neethling Fouche was red-carded for a dangerous tackle.
"We certainly got ill-disciplined," the Stormers boss said, adding: "We also didn't work as hard on defence as we should have done.
"There were some soft penalties - like [not being behind the] last feet and the late tackle or trip by Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu].
"That was very expensive for us," he said of a period in which Ulster scored 31 points to a solitary drop-goal by the visitors.
"It was a game we should have won in terms of the quality of our team and the plans we had.
"The game involves discipline and maybe - based on our ill-discipline - we didn't deserve to win."
Dobson felt the lack of discipline has become a recurring theme for the Cape Town outfit.
However, with seven points from the two matches on tour, they return home with their destiny still firmly in their own hands.
"Mission accomplished," Dobson said of the win-loss road trip.
"There is nothing negotiable in the home games, but we are very much alive.
"Can't help feeling we beat ourselves," he said of the loss to Ulster.
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