Dobson: We're properly in the mix now

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John Dobson said Saturday's dramatic derby win sees the DHL Stormers enter 2025 well placed in the Vodacom URC and ‘really have a crack' in the Investec Champions Cup.

The Stormers overcame a first-half deficit to beat the Sharks 24-20, and are up to ninth on the URC standings before the close of round 9 with their second successive bonus-point win at Cape Town Stadium.

Trailing 10-5 at half time, the Stormers overturned their coastal rivals' advantage through three second-half tries and speaking post-match, Dobson believes this result has got the Cape outfit’s season back on track.

“The Sharks fought and made so many disruptions, and we couldn’t bury them. When they slowed our ball down, we really struggled," he told reporters. “It was messy but in that second half I thought we opened them up quite well.

“We said at the start that we need 10 points from these last two games. I think we’re properly in the mix now for our [URC] season.

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“If you look at our fixtures I know we've got Leinster and Ulster [away from home] but if you look through the teams that are coming here… I don't want to be disrespectful but they're beatable.

"We should start one of our normal marches now but this was a defining time, and if we didn’t get it [the win] today, things would have got pretty tough."

Skipper Deon Fourie added: “I said after the game, we made our own errors, and that is fixable, but there is one thing you can’t buy or teach is fight. It’s something to be proud of.

"And also the difference between the first URC season and now is we've got magical players. Sometimes you have to rein them in and say, 'listen, there's structure and you have to earn the magic', but that's what makes them brilliant players."

The Stormers have a week's break before they return to action at home to the Sale Sharks in round 3 of the Champions Cup on 11 January. They are 0-2 in this season's edition of the competition, yet expect to receive a boost with the return of three key players from injury.

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"We will give it a spin in two weeks' time, like really have a crack, shackles off. There's nothing to lose and if we get it, then we'll go on a proper tour [to Europe]," Dobson said.

"But if we lose to Sale, the Racing 92 game the next week will be purely academic. Leolin [Zas] should be back, him and Evan [Roos] and Sti [Sithole]."

The Stormers boss, too, addressed the injury cloud over playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who was forced off early on Saturday for a third game in a row.

"We took him to the edge yesterday [Friday] when we decided on his hip pointer, and it was tight," Dobson said. "And when he first went down we thought we made a calamitous decision here as coaches.

"But a completely unrelated issue, it's his clavicle. We were offering him to come off but he said 'no', he'll keep trying, and I'm sure it was helpful for the team but we probably should've pulled the trigger for him to come off a bit earlier.

"It's a blow for us, such a special player; three games in a row where we've lost him within minutes."

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images

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