Stormers boss John Dobson content with ‘ugly win’ against Sharks

Stormers director of rugby John Dobson said he was happy to take the 24–20 United Rugby Championship (URC) win against the Sharks on Saturday despite all the handling errors and missed kicks that almost cost the home side the game.

The return leg derby was held in front of a sold-out Cape Town Stadium, where the Sharks have not won since May 2021.

There were multiple handling errors and disallowed tries from both sides. However, the cheering of over 50,000 fans saw the Stormers never give up, deservedly winning the game with 56% possession and 382 metres made compared to the Sharks’ 217 metres.

The hosts scored four tries compared to the Sharks’ two, with Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Manie Libbok and Jean-Luc Du Plessis dotting down for the home side while Yaw Penxe and Jordan Hendrikse scored for the Sharks.

The win for the Stormers also extended their record to six wins from the last seven games against their coastal rivals.

The win especially holds significance as it means the Stormers overtake the Sharks in the URC’s South African shield. The Sharks remain fifth on the overall log while the Stormers move up to ninth, just one point behind Edinburgh and Ulster.

Dobson gives credit to Sharks

Just like his captain Deon Fourie and man-of-the-match Paul de Wet, Dobson was grateful for the win but commented on the mistakes that were made.

“It was an ugly win. I thought we made so many errors,” Dobson complained, though he couldn’t hold back his smile.

“I don’t think it was our best performance and we were loose with the ball.

“All credit to the Sharks who were clearly disrupted, though I suppose we all were (by the handling errors and injuries), but they fought and they stuck around.”

Stormers centre Suleiman Hartzenberg said the team knew it was going to be a tough match but the players stuck to the gameplan they had discussed throughout the week in training.

“We felt the pressure a bit but we kept cool, we remained calm,” he said.

“There’s that period where you just need to keep calm and tone it down a bit, stick to the process and just keep going and going. Eventually, we were lucky at the end and we scored.”

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Injuries hit both the Stormers and Sharks

Stormers spectators cheered on fullback Warrick Gelant in particular as he made his 50th cap for the side on the day.

However, the game was again marred by an injury to rising star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. After going off in the first half due to a concussion against the Lions last week, he went off before the break again this week, this time due to a dislocated shoulder, Dobson said.

All this is on the back of a serious knee injury he has been working off.

Scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies also went off, while the Sharks saw Aphelele Fassi, Andre Esterhuizen and Siya Kolisi all leave early due to injury.

Both sides also had to make changes just before the game after there were late injuries. For the Stormers, hooker Joseph Dweba was replaced by Andre-Hugo Venter. For the Sharks, prop Trevor Nyakane was replaced by Hanro Jacobs.

Both sides have their next games in the Champions Cup on 11 January. The Stormers will host Sale Sharks while the Sharks will host Toulouse.

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