Dobson Frustrated as Stormers Miss Victory

In a nail-biting showdown in Belfast, Stormers' coach John Dobson was left lamenting what could have been after his team’s 38-38 draw against Ulster. The high-stakes match saw the Stormers missing a chance to lead the Vodacom URC after Glasgow Warriors leapfrogged them with a decisive victory over Cardiff.

The game ended in dramatic fashion with a penalty try awarded to the Stormers in the dying moments, after Ulster’s Nathan Doak was penalized for a dangerous tackle on Leolin Zas. Despite salvaging a draw, Dobson expressed mixed feelings about the outcome.

"It’s probably a mixture of frustration that we didn’t get five points, because I thought at times our dominance was pretty imperious. But in the end we’re probably lucky to get the three,"

The Stormers were potent on the attack, with flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scoring twice among five tries. However, the game was marred by missed opportunities and lapses in discipline – factors that Dobson highlighted as detrimental.

"There were four clear moments. The two pick-and-go penalties we conceded – one of which is a 14-point swing – then Evan Roos’ knock-on on the tryline from a pick-and-go, and another knock-on when we were played in. Those are four clear tries, and that’s without the general ‘what-ifs’. So that was frustrating – some of our mistakes,"

Dobson also pointed out the shortcomings in the Stormers' aerial game, a critical component given the challenging windy conditions. "I think the most disappointing thing, in very tough conditions with a swirling wind, was the contestable kicking game. We’ve worked so hard to become good at that, and we lost one or two of those contests. We were probably slightly behind them in the air, which hasn’t been the case for a while," he stated.

Despite not being able to capitalize on their usual strengths such as scrum and maul penalties, Dobson took some solace in his team's ability to adapt. "We’re a team that has relied a lot on scrum and maul penalties to get territory and attack. But we didn’t get that reward. We had one scrum on our ball, which is normally where you get penalties, and they stopped our mauls very effectively. So we had to find another way, and I thought that was very pleasing – that we could still score tries and get on top of them without that dominance," he reflected.

While the draw was a tough pill to swallow, Dobson acknowledged the resilience of Ulster, admitting, "It’s definitely a game we feel we should have won, without taking anything away from Ulster." The Stormers now face an uphill battle in their quest for the URC title, with their next performances crucial in the tightly contested race.