We deserved to lose that game

John Dobson says the Stormers risk missing the Vodacom URC playoffs if they don’t learn from the team’s “worst defensive performance in years”.

The Stormers beat Connacht 34-29 on Saturday in a 10-try thriller at Cape Town Stadium. Man of the Match Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored 24 points, including a hat-trick of tries and the late penalty that secured the bonus-point victory for the hosts. 

His vision and flair brought unpredictability to the Stormers’ game, typified by a clever chip-and-chase for his third try.

However, the result was overshadowed by a defensive effort far below the standard that saw the Cape outfit host back-to-back URC finals and win the 2021-22 title.

Connacht crossed the whitewash five times as the Stormers conceded momentum through poor reads and missed tackles. The home side’s erratic defensive structure and lack of discipline — Warrick Gelant copped a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on in the second half — kept the Irish team in the contest.

The eighth-placed Stormers host Benetton next week, before ending the league schedule against Dragons (10 May) and Cardiff (16 May) in the race to the playoffs.

RECAP: Sacha stars for Stormers in 10-try thriller

Dobson, though, has a bleak outlook on their chances of finishing in the top eight following Saturday’s performance.

“We deserved to lose that game to be honest, you’re not going to go far in this tournament if you defend like that,” the Stormers boss told SuperSport in a post-match interview. “They opened us up at will, I thought we’d lost the game and to be honest, I thought we deserved to lose.

“We’re a team that prides ourselves on defence. That’s probably the worst defensive performance in years. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with our defence at the moment. Connacht are the best attacking team, statistically, in the competition. But that doesn’t account for what we did there; slow off the line, lack of tackle fight.

“It’s going to be an interesting change room now because either we change, or we go play three more home games and that’s going to be it.

“Maybe it’s the wake-up we needed.”

Photo: Shaun Roy/Sportsfile via Getty Images