VIDEO: The backline gamble that 'backfired badly' on Stormers
01/27/2025 08:07 AM
It was always going to happen - a forwards-heavy six-two or seven-one bench split backfiring.
Pioneered by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus - who has managed to escape the dreaded boomerang - it is becoming a more fashionable trend in the game.
The Stormers became the first high-profile 'victim' of the practice flopping when they were left without a specialist flyhalf at a crucial juncture in their United Rugby Championship loss to Leinster this past weekend.
A three-try blitz in seven second-half minutes saw the Irish province record a comprehensive 36-12 win over the Stormers in Dublin at the weekend - stretching their unbeaten run in the URC to 10 matches.
The Irish giants outscored the normally free-flowing Stormers by five tries to two.
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Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said they were well-beaten in every aspect of the game, but the real problems started in the line-outs - where they barely managed to win 80 percent of their ball.
"It was, unfortunately, the same case in Paris last week," he said of their 22-31 loss to Racing 92 in Round Four of the Champions Cup - a result that saw them being knocked out of both first and second-tier Euro competitions.
"The whole thing cascaded as a result of the pressure they put us under.
"It is a lesson for us, how they played without the [20-odd Ireland squad] players they had in Portugal [at a Six Nations training camp]."
The other big concern was the loss of ace Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok in the 38th minute with a knee injury - a potentially long-term lay-off.
"Once we lost Manie [Libbok], we had a 20-year-old centre [Jonathan Roche] at flyhalf.
"We lost the backfield [backline] battle.
"However, it started with the set piece [problems] and then [flowed over] into the breakdown."
(WATCH as Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson takes ownership of a selection gamble that backfired....)
The Stormers boss admitted he made a bad call in not having a backup flyhalf on the bench.
"We were 7-10 down and your world-class flyhalf goes off," Dobson groused about a setback at a crucial junction in the contest.
"I must take responsibility for not having another flyhalf on the bench - we went for a six-two [forwards heavy] bench.
"We took a bit of a game that backfired badly on us.
"Manie [Libbok] very seldom comes off injured. We never replace him.
"That is when you could see the backfield, [with] Warrick [Gelant] often by himself.
"It [Libbok's injury] was a big loss for us.
"Once Manie [Libbok] was gone and [lock] JD [Schickerling, injured in the 29th minute] was gone.
"It has been the story of our season.
"We lost Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] three times in the first half, we lost Damian [Willemse] once or twice in the first half and we lost Manie [Libbok] in the first half.
"Those are world-class playmakers."
It is a call that the Stormers boss may still rue - with his team in 12th place in the standings and a challenging series of domestic derbies in the next month.
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