Stormers hold no fear of URC champs

Director of rugby John Dobson is not fazed by the prospect of the Stormers tackling the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium in the Vodacom URC quarter-finals.

An epic battle is expected to play out on 30 May between the Stormers – fifth on the standings after Saturday’s round 17 win against Dragons in Cape Town – and the third-placed Warriors, overtaken by the Vodacom Bulls after a shock defeat to Benetton.

The Stormers and Glasgow have met five times in the URC, Dobson’s charges winning their first clash in the shadow of Table Mountain en route to the title in 2022, but will look to snap a four-game slump in Scotland if the final round of league action next week plays out like the Stormers boss expects.  

The Stormers’ final league fixture of the season is at home against Cardiff next Friday. Speaking post-match on Saturday at Cape Town Stadium, Dobson acknowledged the “scar tissue” for them against the defending champions while praising his troops after a third straight bonus-point URC win.

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“We pretty much thought that we were going to go to Durban [to face the Sharks] the whole time,” he told reporters. “That looks increasingly unlikely, especially when you see the team Leinster put out tonight.

“They’re going to go full strength next week [against Glasgow], we expect them to win that game, which would mean we go to Scotstoun.

“Last year, Glasgow were at their full pomp, and I know we lost it by 10-plus at the end [in the quarter-finals] … but if we have to go that way, we have to go that way. 

“If things go wrong next Friday [against Cardiff], we have to go to Kings Park… Pretoria [and the Bulls] wouldn’t complain either. But we would never jerry-rig a game; we play on a Friday night so we have to wrap our heads around going to Scotstoun.

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“We’ve got scar tissue there, but we’ve also got a point to prove. There’s not the fear that it would’ve been.”

The Stormers on Saturday converted a 14-0 half-time lead into a resounding 48-12 victory that included a try and two conversions from Damian Willemse in his 100th appearance.

“I thought we did what we wanted to do in terms of trying to maintain some elements of how we played against Benetton, it’s always going to be much trickier,” Dobson said.

“We have that standard around the small stuff, whether that’s maul defence or breakdown reaction, that was really good. I’m really happy with the performance in general.

“The actual problem in the first half is the seven scrum put-ins to them that forced balls in the wrong areas, which is probably something we talked about a little bit before the game.

“I thought the second half was Benetton 2.0, the way we trapped them. If there was any criticism of this team today, which would be very little, one or two forced opportunities in the first half.

“But for the rest of it … defensively, really good… I think we all expect because it’s the Stormers, because of Benetton, because of the Dragons, it must be 70. Well, it was 48.”

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images