‘Stormers lack patience,’ says Dobson after Edinburgh scare
· Citizen
Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said that his team lacked patience, after they were given a scare before clinching a 33-14 United Rugby Championship (URC) win over Edinburgh at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a similar situation to their win over the Dragons the previous weekend, with the Stormers dominating possession and territory and creating plenty of chances, but they once again couldn’t finish most of them.
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That led to them scoring just once in the opening 40 minutes, to be level pegging at 7-all at halftime, before a back and forth start to the second half saw Edinburgh lead 14-12 after 58 minutes.
But a strong finish saw the home side run in three converted scores over the final quarter to eventually seal an important bonus point win in the end.
“There is a lack of patience within the team. We talk about our 22m entries a lot, but we have to find solutions for that,” said Dobson after the match.
“Instead of throwing a skip pass and ending up tied 7-all rather than 14-0 ahead (after an intercept try in the first half), we could have looked for the pick-and-go with the forwards at that stage. From our first five entries, we scored zero points. It is something we must fix.”
Night kick-offs
Dobson added that the team didn’t enjoy the night time kick-offs in South Africa, as it took away a bit from the advantage of playing at home during summer and autumn, but was happy with a result that secured their place at second on the URC log.
“I am pleased with the victory, however, we don’t really enjoy playing at this time (7pm) against Northern Hemisphere opposition in Cape Town,” explained Dobson.
“We get a lot of criticism, but we are second on the log and reasonably well-positioned, although we are also doing plenty wrong. Towards the end (of the match) we were well on top. So it is very much a job done for me.”
The Stormers now turn their attention towards the Champions Cup last 16, with them travelling to France to take on Toulon.
If they win that game they could either be travelling to Scotland to take on Glasgow Warriors, or possibly be hosting the Bulls at home in what would be a blockbuster quarterfinal match-up.