John Dobson sets non 'negotiables' after Stormers' UK 'mission accomplished'

By SABC Sport
1st April 2025

Although his team suffered a narrow loss against Ulster at the weekend, Stormers director of rugby John Dobson insists his side gave a good account of themselves on their recent tour of the United Kingdom.

The men from the Cape suffered a 38-34 defeat against Richie Murphy's troops at Kingspan Stadium on Friday night after starting their tour with a 29-17 bons-point victory over the Scarlets.

Despite finishing on the losing side against Ulster, the Stormers secured two bonus points in that clash after crossing for four tries and finishing within seven points of their victors.

That means they amassed seven out of a possible 10 points from those two matches and they could easily have secured maximum points in both games but their discipline let them down in the latter fixture.

Aside from losing star playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to a yellow card during the latter stages of the opening half in the Ulster clash, tighthead prop Neethling Fouche was red carded early in the second half.

"I think seven points from the tour, we probably would have signed for seven or six before we left. So in that sense, mission accomplished, coming into the four home games," said Dobson.

"It does mean there's nothing negotiable in the home games. We're very much alive and as I say, if you said we're going to get seven on our away tour against teams that are very close to us on the log, probably you would have taken it.

"But still, I can't help feeling we beat ourselves a little bit (against Ulster)."

That means the Stormers currently occupy 10th position in the United Rugby Championship (URC) table, just one point adrift of the play-off places with Benetton, Edinburgh and Cardiff all level on 36 points immediately above them in the standings.

The URC will have a two-week break as the focus turns to the Champions and Challenge Cup's last 16 round and quarter-finals during that period.

There's a scramble for play-off places in the URC with just nine points separating fifth-placed Munster and the Lions, who occupy 14th position in the tournament's standings.

The Stormers have their own fate in their hands as all four of their remaining matches will be played in Cape Town, against Connacht (13th), Benetton (seventh), Dragons (16th) and Cardiff (ninth).