Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has pinpointed the key failings after his team's back-to-back defeats to the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship (URC), calling for "a change in behavior" to halt their slide. After a roaring start to the season with eight straight wins, the Stormers have hit a rough patch, losing twice consecutively to their coastal rivals, including a painful 36-24 loss in Durban. This stumble has seen them drop to third in the standings, trailing behind Glasgow Warriors and Leinster.
Dobson did not mince words about the performances, attributing the losses to specific shortcomings.
"Credit must go to the Sharks; they beat us properly over both weeks. Our discipline was poor, and our set-piece definitely let us down,"
he expressed. The Sharks capitalized on these areas, executing their game plan to perfection not once, but twice, leaving the Stormers to rue similar mistakes across both fixtures.
The Stormers showed signs of promise in Durban, leading at half-time, but a collapse facilitated by errors and disciplinary issues allowed the Sharks to storm back with 19 unanswered points, sealing a historic home-and-away sweep. Reflecting on the repeated errors, Dobson highlighted the critical areas of concern:
"The most destroying part (tonight) is that the same things that went wrong last week, went wrong this week,"
lamented Dobson.
Despite the setbacks, Dobson acknowledged a slight improvement in the rematch, yet emphasized the persistent issues that undermined their efforts. "Playing them back-to-back was nice in the sense that we saw what went wrong last week, and we thought we could fix that. Other than our two starts to the halves, it felt very similar to last week. But I think we were marginally better (in Durban)," he noted. The contestable kicks, discipline, and conversion of scoring opportunities particularly drew his critique, pointing out that such lapses cost them dearly.
Dobson's candid reflection underscores a critical juncture for the Stormers as they aim to regroup and regain their early-season form. With the URC season far from over, the team's ability to address these "behavioral" aspects could well determine their fate in the race for the championship.
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Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has pinpointed the key failings after his team's back-to-back defeats to the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship (URC), calling for "a change in behavior" to halt their slide. After a roaring start to the season with eight straight wins, the Stormers have hit a rough patch, losing twice consecutively to their coastal rivals, including a painful 36-24 loss in Durban. This stumble has seen them drop to third in the standings, trailing behind Glasgow Warriors and Leinster.
Dobson did not mince words about the performances, attributing the losses to specific shortcomings.
"Credit must go to the Sharks; they beat us properly over both weeks. Our discipline was poor, and our set-piece definitely let us down,"
he expressed. The Sharks capitalized on these areas, executing their game plan to perfection not once, but twice, leaving the Stormers to rue similar mistakes across both fixtures.The Stormers showed signs of promise in Durban, leading at half-time, but a collapse facilitated by errors and disciplinary issues allowed the Sharks to storm back with 19 unanswered points, sealing a historic home-and-away sweep. Reflecting on the repeated errors, Dobson highlighted the critical areas of concern:
"The most destroying part (tonight) is that the same things that went wrong last week, went wrong this week,"
lamented Dobson.Despite the setbacks, Dobson acknowledged a slight improvement in the rematch, yet emphasized the persistent issues that undermined their efforts. "Playing them back-to-back was nice in the sense that we saw what went wrong last week, and we thought we could fix that. Other than our two starts to the halves, it felt very similar to last week. But I think we were marginally better (in Durban)," he noted. The contestable kicks, discipline, and conversion of scoring opportunities particularly drew his critique, pointing out that such lapses cost them dearly.
Dobson's candid reflection underscores a critical juncture for the Stormers as they aim to regroup and regain their early-season form. With the URC season far from over, the team's ability to address these "behavioral" aspects could well determine their fate in the race for the championship.