Good decision-making coupled with a measured game plan worked wonders for the Stormers when they powered their way to a 48-12 win over Glasgow Warriors, coach John Dobson said.
After crashing to 33-24 to Connacht in their previous United Rugby Championship clash, the Stormers returned to winning ways thanks to a six-try blitz at the Cape Town Stadium.
The mood surrounding the Connacht clash had been sombre after the death of long-serving team manager Chippie Solomon.
“I think we could focus a bit more on the rugby this week,” Dobson said.
“If you’re saying we played conservatively, then yes, probably. It was more like playoff rugby.”
“Last week we were desperate and forced things, shovelling inferior ball.
It will be a like a Test match for the Stormers when they face table-topping Glasgow Warriors in a crunch United Rugby Championship showdown on Saturday, says the Cape team’s assistant coach Dawie Snyman.
After losing against Connacht last weekend, the second-placed Stormers are desperate to get back on the winning track at the Cape Town Stadium (kickoff 1.45pm). This is the Stormers’ final home game before tough matches on the road against Ulster and Cardiff.
“Glasgow are doing really well this season,” Snyman said. “They’re top of the log and we’re second, so it’s a big clash which will probably decide who can push on and finish at the top.
“The Stormers can’t look past this weekend. We need to get everything right now and make sure we deliver the performance we want.
“The tour will take care of itself, but if we want to give ourselves a proper chance of finishing in the top four, this game is vital.
“Glasgow have got a really strong set-piece and a good maul, and from that comes a lot of options. We need to be sharp and understand where opportunities are, but also identify where we can put them under pressure.”
The Lions hit their straps and played a great game, and it’s never easy at Ellis Park. Once they get on a roll on it, it’s hard to stop their momentum
Snyman said the Stormers would not be lulled into a false sense of security after Glasgow slumped to a 54-12 loss to the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday.
“The Lions hit their straps and played a great game, and it’s never easy at Ellis Park,” he said. “Once they get on a roll on it, it’s hard to stop their momentum. They have a lot of confidence at the moment, and it was more about how well the Lions played than Glasgow getting things wrong.
“Glasgow are a good club with great players and a lot of internationals on their side. So it’s a great test for us. And it’s games; you actually want to play this part of the season where it’s going to prepare you for the play-off games.”
Stormers playmaker Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu said he was expecting to face an emotionally charged Warriors outfit.
“They didn’t start [against the Lions] with their full-strength team probably because they’re loaded for us,” he said. “I think that can also give you an emotionally charged-up team.
“I think, if anything, it actually makes it a level contest that’s going to be about who’s best on the day, because we’re both coming off the same emotional kind of roller-coaster and two losses with no points. So I don’t think it could be more even at this point.”
Stormers coach John Dobson said he must be spot on with his selections for the top-of-the-table clash. “The Glasgow game is massive,” he said. “To get nothing out of the Connacht game was very disappointing.
“Now we have to win all three of our last games to get where we want to be. That is easier said than done. First up is Glasgow and then two 4G pitch matches away against two teams competing for the top eight.
“The Stormers were loose throughout the game against Connacht. There were a couple of patches in the first half that we spoke about where we shuffled it around.”
Weekend URC fixtures
Friday:
Edinburgh v Sharks
Saturday:
Stormers v Glasgow Warriors,
Lions v Connacht,
Scarlets v Bulls.
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“This week we applied pressure. We knew we could put some pressure on set-piece wise and that was effective.
“We didn’t need to create the magic against Glasgow, so that helped.
“I thought the decision-making was excellent.”
Dobson said criticism of the Stormers after the Connacht loss had been unjustified.
“We got a lot of criticism for the Connacht performance,” he said.
“But to understand what this team was going through, or what Chippie meant to us and to this organisation, and to expect those guys to perform normally is a lack of humanity in my mind.
“We wanted to put in a proper performance against Glasgow, so to have done it like that and in the manner we did, it’s a really happy change room at this stage, and we can build on this.”
Dobson said the debut of 18-year-old Markus Muller with 14 minutes to go had been special.
The Stormers have left themselves a mountain to climb after they crashed to a 33-24 United Rugby Championship (URC) defeat against Connacht on Saturday, coach John Dobson said.
Dobson lamented a loose display on home soil and said his team’s remaining games against Glasgow Warriors in Cape Town on Saturday and matches on the road against Ulster and Cardiff had become must-win affairs.
The build-up to Saturday’s clash was emotional for the Stormers after the sudden death of long-serving team manager Chippie Solomon.
“I think it was individual errors, and if we don’t make some of those mistakes, we don’t lose the game,” Dobson said.
“There was the bounce of a kick, a dropped restart and an intercept. Those moments cost us.
“I can’t really talk to the emotion, but I don’t think we can use Chippie and the tough week we had as an excuse for some of those mistakes. We were beaten.”
Dobson expressed disappointment after his team entered the contest with high hopes of a victory.
“To get nothing out of the Connacht game is very disappointing,” he said.
“We now have to win all three remaining games to get where we want to be, but that’s much easier said than done.
“First up is Glasgow and then two 4G pitch matches away against two teams competing for the top eight.
“We’ve put ourselves in a bit of a position now.
“The Stormers were loose throughout the game against Connacht.
“There were a couple of patches in the first half that we spoke about where we shuffled it around.
“We had their maul on the ropes, and at one instance we had a quick throw-in to Warrick Gelant, but then Damian Willemse threw a forward pass.
“Connacht then got the scrum and ended up scoring.
“I thought we were very loose.
“We said at halftime, let’s be more direct and limit the passing.
“But we kept shovelling the ball back repeatedly and conceded a penalty for sealing off.
“It felt at times we needed to invent to beat them, when in reality the template was there to do it because we saw it with our mauling getting on top.
“We had the last scrum; I know it’s their ball.
“The Stormers had a great tight five, and we didn’t move them a centimetre in a scrum we needed to win to get two log points, and we didn’t do that, so Connacht did well.”
Stormers captain Ruhan Nel said a lack of concentration had proved costly.
“I felt we defended well at certain times, and then there was just a lack of concentration due to simple decisions, which gave them either a penalty that led to an entry or we scored points and conceded soon after,” he said.
“That defeat is on us. I don’t think we can fault the plan or the understanding of it. That was 100% there. It was about execution.
“In the second half we probably became a bit individualistic. I don’t know, but we became desperate.”
Scorers:
Stormers 24: Tries: Evan Roos, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3). Penalty: Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Connacht 33: Tries: Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle, John Devine, Ben Murphy and Sean Naughton. Conversions: Sam Gilbert (3), Shaun Naughton.
Other URC scores:
Dragons 7 Bulls 47, Lions 54 Glasgow Warriors 12, Ospreys 21 Sharks 17.
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“That noise (from the crowd) was so cool,” he said.
“It makes me proud of the crowd because it shows they’re informed and enthusiastic. It was brilliant.
“He’s the happiest kid. I think his hand is sore, but he’s the happiest kid in the world down there at the moment.
“Personally, I would have liked to give him five or 10 minutes more. But we were down to one back at one stage, so we didn’t have the flexibility.”
“He didn’t have much ball in hand, but his defence was really, really good. He stayed alive in the system and handled it well.
“It’s important for us to show there’s a pathway. If you come through the system, you’ll get an opportunity.
“That’s critical for what we’re building.”
The win was marred when Cobus Reinach left the field in the 60th minute with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.
“He’s in a brace and hasn’t been scanned yet,” Dobson said.
“But I don’t see that being a quick turnaround.
“It looks like a ligament, possibly medial. Hopefully it’s not an ACL, but it’s serious enough to keep him out for a while.”
Captain Ruhan Nel said the Stormers had been fired up for one of the biggest games of the season against the United Rugby Championship log-leaders.
“You could feel from the start of the week the boys were ready to get back to business and the energy shifted,” he said.
“It was about doing something for ourselves.
“We embrace criticism after the Connacht defeat, but there was a lack of understanding about what we went through.
“I feel like there was a lack of respect, a lack of understanding towards the team and what we went through.
“That also was part of the motivation this week that put a bit of anger in us. That added motivation.”
Other URC scores: Edinburgh 33 Sharks 28, Lions 33 Connacht 21, Scarlets 21 Bulls 23.
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