John Dobson blasts ill-disciplined Stormers following Ulster loss

Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson lamented his charges' discipline as they blew a healthy lead to go down 38-34 to Ulster in their United Rugby Championship match on Saturday.

The visitors enjoyed a rampant start thanks to early tries from Evan Roos and Ben Loader, racing to a 17-0 lead after just eight minutes in Belfast. However, poor discipline let Ulster back into the game.

In the space of six minutes, the mercurial Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was shown a yellow for blocking a kick chaser and captain Neethling Fouche earned a red card for a dangerous tackle, though he could count himself unlucky.

"For large parts of the game we were our own worst enemies," Dobson told the press afterwards.

"We certainly got ill-disciplined. We also didn't work as hard on defence as we should have done. There were some soft penalties – like [not being behind the] last feet and the late tackle or trip by Sacha.

"It was a game we should have won in terms of the quality of our team and the plans we had. The game involves discipline and maybe - based on our ill-discipline - we didn't deserve to win."

But it's not all doom and gloom for the Cape Town franchise, who, thanks to their bonus-point win against Scarlets last week and a narrow defeat on Saturday, have scooped six valuable log points on their two-match tour up North.

They currently sit in tenth on the URC table, but with just three points separating them from fifth-placed Munster, they are very much still in the conversation for a playoff berth.

"Mission accomplished," Dobson said of the northern hemisphere visit.

"There is nothing negotiable in the home games, but we are very much alive."

READ: John Dobson not rushing injured Springbok Manie Libbok back