Dixon Out To Prove A Point And Make Amends  

Stormers loose forward Ben-Jason Dixon remains confident that his side is closer to turning performances into results than recent outcomes might suggest, as the Stormers look to respond after a disappointing defeat to the Sharks last weekend in Cape Town. 

“It’s a great opportunity to fix the things we flagged,” Dixon said. “We want to fix the lineouts and then score more tries than us. We think we’re competitive, and we believe we can beat them in those areas.”

Despite being “well beaten” as Dixon put it, on the scoreboard, with the final score 30-19 in favour of the Durban-based side, he insists the gap is not as wide as it appeared. 

“We don’t feel like we’re too far off,” he added.

Dixon also spoke highly of his loose-forward partnership with Evan Roos and Paul de Villiers, crediting the trio’s contrasting styles for lifting the pack’s intensity.

“I enjoy it a lot. The guys are inspiring,” Dixon said. “Evan has a lot of fire and gets us going. Paul makes a big hit, a turnover, or puts in a long defensive set.”

“That’s when I come alive – when we have the opportunity to make a lot of tackles after each other and put pressure on the opposition attack.” the loose forward said. “We complement each other, and when one plays well, it lifts the others.”

With plenty of rugby under his belt this season, having amassed 800 minutes for the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship and the Investec Champions Cup, Dixon has relished the opportunity to rack up minutes and continue building momentum.

“It’s always nice to be on the field – it’s an awesome privilege,” he said. “In some of the big moments I could be more prevalent, but the fitness is there, and it’s nice to get time on the pitch.”

That physical confidence is translating into greater impact, something Dixon believes has been aided by the strong work he has put in off the field following a disrupted campaign last season.

“Physically, I feel better this season. Last year I had a wrist injury, so I feel like I had a pre-season before the actual pre-season,” he explained. “It was a long time out of the game, and I feel like I’ve been reaping those rewards.”

While there were positives to take from the previous outing against the Sharks – particularly an improved work rate around the park – Dixon believes the group fell short of its own expectations.

“We have our own standards, and we believe we can compete much more than we showed last weekend,” he said. “We feel we can dominate teams, so we have to go back to our processes and standards as a group.”

With pressure mounting, Dixon feels the pressure is shared throughout the camp, but he sees it as a source of motivation to continuously improve. 

“All the coaches and players are feeling the heat,” he said. “Our slogan says ‘we’re in it together’, so we’re all carrying the weight of the loss.”

“We believe we’re better than what we showed on the weekend, and we want to show that this weekend.”