Stormers wing Seabelo Senatla escapes the clutches of Ruan Vermaak of the Bulls during the teams' URC match in Pretoria on Saturday. Picture: Christiaan Kotze/Gallo Images
Coach John Dobson and skipper Deon Fourie said “character” had been the pivotal factor in the Stormers’ win over the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Stormers showed impressive resilience to fight back against an early onslaught from the Bulls as the defending United Rugby Championship winners narrowly won 23-19 in front of a record 41,205 strong crowd at Loftus Versfeld.
In an all-time classic derby between the north-south rivals, the visitors scored two tries and Manie Libbok kicked 13 points that included a 73rd-minute drop goal, before relentless pressure from the Bulls at the death was met with patient defence from Dobson’s troops.
The Stormers’ win also snapped the Bulls’ 12-game winning streak at home, and speaking post-match, Dobson told reporters: “I’m very proud of the character shown by the team. We knew the level of motivation and desperation for this game, and that the first 20, 30 minutes would be really tough.
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“They dominated most of that half, and we conceded too many penalties as well.
“At 12-3 we were under the pump … But the way we stayed in the fight, got into the lead at half time, and then started the second half was magic – and then the character at the end.
“That’s just what this team is about – what happened in those last 10 minutes – and I’m so proud of them. We were defending so well … there was just this desperation to defend to win.”
Fourie added: “With the crowd … I don’t think it was just 41,000 Bulls supporters, I think it was almost half-half, so thanks to those who came out … it ranked up there for me.
“We spoke about it all week, that the Bulls would probably be up on the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes because they’re playing in front of their home crowd.
“But I said let’s clamp down on the silly mistakes, stick to the basics and just get into their half and as soon as we got into their 22, I told the guys we’re coming away with points.
“It was quite stressful at the end, and it gave me a few more grey hairs! But it was lekker to win like we did, and like Dobbo said, it shows the character of the team and hopefully we can build on this going forward.”
The second-placed Stormers (54 points) are now 10 points ahead of Ulster on the overall URC table, and lead the Bulls by 13, which should be enough to clinch the race for the South African Shield.
The Stormers host the Sharks in Cape Town on 4 March when the competition resumes after a week’s break.
Dobson said: “We have the Sharks game next and if we get that right we’ve got a clean sweep of the local derbies, which would be brilliant for us.
“We probably need another win from the last four games to get the SA Shield, which I’m sure we’ll get, and that’s important for us.
“You want to be the best team in South Africa and we’re getting very close to that, given our results. If we can win the Shield two years in a row it’ll be a great feather in the cap for this union and the team.”
This story was first published by sarugbymag.co.za. It has been republished here with permission. For the original story click here.
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