John Dobson on Stormers loss: It’s a bit of a wake-up call

The plucky Welsh outfit followed in the footsteps of European giants Munster and La Rochelle, two teams that have recently bested the Stormers in Cape Town. 

Ospreys scored early and kept the tempo, capitalising on the Stormers' lack of ball retention to notch up a memorable 21-27 victory. 

"We knew the Ospreys had the fight in them.... they have done some remarkable stuff this season with a small squad and with all the Welsh issues, so firstly credit to them," Dobson told rugby365.com.

"But regarding our performance, I am really sorry about that and can only apologise. It was poor."

"Losing to Ospreys at home is as bad as it gets in terms of that and that is the truth. Credit to the Ospreys for the way they fought. That is not what we are about.

"Our losses have been against Munster twice, one was the Final, and La Rochelle in the last two years, so it's very bad."

Dobson also commented on the plethora of turnovers stemming from playing very loose rugby. 

"There is this thing about who we want to be, but that was taking it to the extreme," added the director of rugby.

"We've got two tight forwards passing to each other on our own tryline. In the first half, we were as loose as can be. It's a concern and a frustration. I think we coughed up 16 balls.

"The key thing for us is to go forward down the middle of the field and I thought that was what went wrong.

"Our message couldn't be clearer. Dent them first, run direct hard lines and it will all open up on the sides. We are proud of who we are, but that was too loose."

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