Stormers Victory Over Bulls Hailed As Most Dominant Performance By Dobson

DHL Stormers director of rugby John Dobson breathed a sigh of relief, claiming this as their most dominant performance as his outfit put on a sensational exhibition in a much-needed victory over the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon. 

After eight wins on the trot in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, the Stormers were dubbed ‘the most in-form team in world rugby,’ but they were brought back down to earth swiftly with three derby defeats in a row – two to the Hollywoodbets Sharks and one to the Lions. 

These defeats cast an eye on the deficiencies in the side where a team once viewed as unstoppable, suddenly had cracks appearing all over their armour. 

“We had a lot of doubts and questions,” admitted Dobson. “There was noise around some of our players – there was a lot of pressure. We were unbeaten, and there was lots of hype, and now it became about what’s wrong with the Stormers?” added the director of rugby. 

“It was probably our most important win and our most dominant performance up here,” claimed Dobson. 

Both sides appeared to swap form and fortune as it was the Bulls who, conversely, boasted a four-game winning streak after a horrendous run of defeats. 

“It’s a really good Bulls team all around the field.”

“It’s not an average Bulls team, it’s not a Bulls team in crisis, it’s a Bulls team with momentum, with real class who are well led and well organised, so it’s a big win for us,” Dobson admitted. 

“This is a great model if domestically we can produce a game like this. I’m not saying it because we won, but even the game in Cape Town felt like a proper Test match. There were forty-six excellent, high-level, South African rugby players out there today.”

Given the drastic change in both sides’ form, many did not afford the Stormers a chance of victory on the Highveld. After a tough start where the Bulls won a couple of scrums on the Stormers put-in, and had a Kurt-Lee Arendse try ruled out for a knock-on, seemingly opening the Stormers defence at will, the writing appeared on the wall. 

However, the Bulls were unable to translate their early pressure into points, and it was the Stormers who grew in confidence and eventually asserted their dominance. 

In comparison to prior weeks, the Cape Town side’s discipline improved, and the manner in which the set piece was dominated, against a pack littered with Springboks, was something to behold.  

“We got the set piece dominance, and our discipline was much better than it was in the Lions game, which we deservedly lost.

“We had 19 penalties in Durban, and a couple of yellow cards and 16 the week before against the Sharks in Cape Town, so that’s much better,” said a pleased Dobson. 

“The set piece pressure was unusual against a side like the Bulls, so the discipline was much better in terms of the penalties and the way we applied ourselves.”

The return of several stalwarts who provided much-needed experience, level-headedness, and leadership was not lost on Dobson, who credited them as the difference makers in this fixture. 

“Another big difference was leadership. I know why we did it, but I made a mistake with Sacha as captain,” he said. 

“Today, instead of having Wandi (Simelane) and Jonathan Roche beside him, he had Ruhan (Nel) and Gaza (Damian Willemse) as well as Deon Fourie.”

Dobson shared a humorous story about Fourie taking himself off in his first game following a lengthy injury lay-off. 

“Deon subbed himself. He said either I’m coming off or I am going to walk off and embarrass you guys,” chuckled Dobson. “What a 30 minutes for a guy who has been out. I can’t give enough credit to the leadership.”

The victory will jolt a bout of confidence back in the Stormers camp, who displayed a sense of composure which previously eluded them.

With a run of home games on the horizon, the Capetonians are hoping that this vital victory forms the catalyst for their resurgence as they seek to mount a top-four challenge. 

“We have a run of home games, and we’d like to win all of them. We can realistically think of a top 4 finish, and that’s our goal now,” mentioned Dobson.