John Dobson blames game model for URC final loss

A struggling Cape Town Stadium pitch played host to the United Rugby Championship final on Saturday night, where the Stormers lost 14-19 to a gutsy Munster outfit that snatched victory at the death. The pitch played its part, with skiddy conditions making it difficult for players to change direction.

"I just hate mentioning the field," Dobson told rugby365.com.

"I thought the referee was absolutely superb. I thought it was a strong and excellent refereeing performance, but the field was a nightmare for us.

"That's why I put it on me that maybe we should have changed - slow down the line speed, just kick contestables, don™t try the counterattack, don™t try and go out the back and just go through the front door.

"Maybe those are the things I got wrong. It was tough conditions for us to play our game model. I should have adjusted our game model.

"If you come with high line speed and you miss the read, then you can't turn and recover. Your transition, counterattacking game and scrum is gone, which are probably the three pillars of our game."

Dobson also lamented the contestable kicks, an area in which his charges failed to impress.

"We lost five out of the six contestables," He continued.

"In the second half when we started to go through the front door and put them under pressure, I actually thought we were nanoseconds away from winning that game.

"We just needed that extra score. When we were chasing towards the end there, we were trying to go out the back door too much. I think I got something very wrong."