Dobson admits Lions were unlucky to go down to Stormers

Stormers coach John Dobson said he really “felt” for the Lions after their last-gasp 39-37 defeat in the Rainbow Cup SA competition at Ellis Park on Saturday.

With time up on the clock Stormers flyhalf Tim Swiel converted a penalty to break the Lions’ hearts after being adjudged by referee AJ Jacobs to having killed the ball on the ground.

“To say it was tight is a bit of an understatement,” said Dobson afterwards.

“We have had a couple of tight ones, so we were quite relieved to get that one.”

With both teams scoring five tries, defence wasn’t a top priority, but Dobson said the Lions would be devastated having controlled most areas of the contest.

“I honestly feel for the Lions, it was a bit unlucky for them,” said Dobson.

“But if we look at the balance of the last three games we probably deserved some kind of reward.”

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Dobson also credited the Lions for getting the better of his impressive all-out Springbok front-row, with loosehead Sti Sithole putting a lot of pressure on Bok tighthead Frans Malherbe.

“Our scrums didn’t function, I think we gave away one or two scrum penalties,” said Dobson. “The Lions were exceptional in the scrums.”

While the Stormers scored some scintillating tries, especially the one by wing Edwill van der Merwe, the Stormers were left chasing the game for much of the time.

“We focused hard on converting our attacking opportunities, but we let ourselves down in the contestable battles. I think we lost that,” said Dobson.

Lions flank MJ Pelser especially exposed the Stormers at the breakdowns, while the Lions’ kicking game put all sorts of pressure on the visitors.

“I think we gave away a lot of tries on line breaks, and we let ourselves down in the first half with a try from a contestable with Wandi’s (Simelane) intercept try,” he said.

There is also renewed concern over flyhalf Abner van Reenen, with Dobson saying afterwards he had a sore shoulder.

“It got worse in the game and could be his AC joint, but I’m not sure yet how serious it is,” said Dobson.