DHL Stormers ready to relaunch in Gqeberha
Director of Rugby John Dobson is confident of the DHL Stormers putting together a strong run in the Investec Champions Cup, starting with their opener against RC Toulon in Gqeberha.
The DHL Stormers went down narrowly in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship coastal clash with the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
It was a frustrating outing for the visitors, who looked to have secured a dramatic win at the death before Manie Libbok’s try was disallowed due to a knock-on in a previous ruck.
The DHL Stormers will host French giants RC Toulon at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium this coming Saturday, before travelling to take on Harlequins in London.
Key takeaways from the result
“We were without five of our Springboks. To come here and fight like we did gives me hope about the team. I saw a lot of our DNA out there. On other days, those aren’t going to go down like that. I feel quite confident that we can put together a proper run now, especially as those Springboks come back. To come here and do what we’ve done, in a funny way, it gives me hope. There are way more positives and it gives us a good place to launch from.”
Missed opportunities
“We created so many opportunities. To be fair, the Hollywoodbets Sharks also probably bottled one or two. That was probably the difference in the end. We can look back thinking we could’ve won the game right at the end there.”
Set-piece dominance
“I thought we scrummed well at the start. They fought their way back into it. We gave away two or three penalties which was disappointing, but we finished strongly. It was a high-level contest. I was very pleased with how we did against their front row. Ali Vermaak is an unsung hero, I thought he was magnificent. Neethling Fouche had a proper battle against Ox Nche. I thought we did well there.”
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s injury
“That was a big blow. It affected our substitutions with the six-two split on the bench. Once you make that backline change early, we ended up in the last 15 minutes with Herschel [Jantjies] on the wing. He did almost go and score the winner though.”
Preparations for the Investec Champions Cup
“We do have to make sure that in the Vodacom URC we get into the top eight, but we are going to respect the European competitions. Next week, we face Toulon and we will see what happens there. The local Vodacom URC derbies are non-negotiable [but] we’re not going to bail on the Investec Champions Cup now because we lost. Next week’s game is one we will go and enjoy playing. There isn’t any pressure. We will go and attack the Investec Champions Cup and enjoy it.”
