Stormers boss John Dobson laments Damian Willemse injury

The double World Cup winner had only just returned to the Stormers lineup following surgery on his hand. But in the act of scoring a try in their 28-17 loss to the Glasgow Warriors on Saturday, Willemse hurt his groin. Initial reports claim the utility back will be out until at least the new year.

With superstar Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also sidelined with injury, the Stormers are missing two key playmakers.

"Losing Damian Willemse was a big blow to our plans around this game," Dobson told the Stormers' website.

"It was a massive blow. The lesson for me as a coach is that we tried to get some energy on the field, because we wanted to blow it open, but in the end we had nothing left.

"We were trying to chase it with 14 men, which was tough. I don't feel the structure was the problem, how we individually operated within it was more my concern. As a team, we could've worked harder. That's not who we are.

"Glasgow were good. We knew it would be a shootout like it was. Their quick kick-off after we went 17-14 ahead caught us. Even at 21-17, I thought the game was opening up, which is what we wanted. Unfortunately, we kicked poorly and they kicked a 50:22.

"We were playing against a team with 17 internationals. We were trying to open it up and it's who we are, but sometimes it's going to hang us. As a result, we were a bit loose and we lost a couple of key kicking duels. We could've been a bit tighter."

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