John Dobson lauds Stormers players’ character, fight in win against Dragons

Stormers coach John Dobson applauded his players for showing their championship mettle after they managed to overcome the Dragons 44-21 in their United Rugby Championship clash at Rodney Parade on Friday night. 

The bonus point win probably flatters the side from the Cape as they found the going hard in Newport, Wales with the Dragons putting them under pressure as they led 21-16 with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Tries from Angelo Davids (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2) Evan Roos along with five conversions and three penalties by flyhalf Manie Libbok secured the 44-21 win for the Stormers. 

‘Stormers showed character’

How the Stormers got their win without playing their best rugby for large parts of the game showed why they are a championship team, Dobson acknowledged. 

“The big turning moment wasn’t actually the attacking stuff, it was when they got back into our 22m when they were 21-16 up, and we held them up. There were some immense tackles and you could just see this team say enough is enough now,” said Dobson in his post-match press conference. 

“A, the piece of winning away and secondly, the character; we saw the Stormers fight and we saw the Stormers transitions and we saw them away. It might sound silly but it’s important to us. 

“I really give them credit because in the coach’s box, we were a little bit more panicky than the players, they did well to turn that around at the end there,” he said. 

Tough start at Rodney Parade

The Stormers took time to shift through the gears; they could not implement their running game in the early stages of the match because the Dragons drew them into playing a kicking game which they won. 

The Dragons had the territorial dominance, seeing the Stormers defending for much of the first half. Surprisingly, the Dragons also had the upper hand in the scrum battle.

The crowd did their bit to push the Dragons and make the environment hard for the Stormers. The home side went into the break leading 11-10. The Stormers got their first-half points through a try by Davids and a conversion and penalty by Libbok. 

Stormers show

The second half saw the Stormers take a lead through a Libbok penalty with the Dragons responding with one of their own through Will Reed with Libbok adding another.  Aaron Wainwright scored a converted try to give the Dragons a 21-16 lead at the hour mark. 

From there on, it was the Stormers’ show as they scored four unanswered tries through Davids, Roos and a brace from Feinberg-Mngomezulu to get the victory. Libbok was impressive from the kicking tee, slotting all conversions. 

The five points gained from the win saw the Stormers move to 50 points on the URC points table though they remained in fifth place.