Wayward Stormers are ‘overhyped’

Stormers head coach John Dobson has rather startlingly admitted that his charges, at least at this early stage of the Super Rugby campaign, are being “overhyped”.

The Cape-based franchise went into the new season as South Africa’s best bet in the 2020 edition, specifically because of the presence of several Springboks.

While they remain unbeaten after three rounds, the past weekend’s narrow 33-30 escape against the Lions at Ellis Park was a timely reality check.

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“I think we did show character, but I would like us to move beyond character at some stage,” said Dobson, referring to centre Ruhan Nel’s injury-time showstopper after a sweeping attacking move.

“We are overhyped in terms of our actual processes and how we are playing at the moment. It’s not up to standard. I think this team is capable of better and hopefully Saturday is the start of that journey.”

The Jaguares, who visit Newlands on Saturday, are the perfect opponents to gauge where the Stormers are really at.

The match is already being billed as the clash that could determine the outcome of the South African conference.

While there’s obvious overall improvement needed, Dobson is more concerned about his players lacking maturity in decision-making and possibly ignoring the coaching staff’s advice.

That was apparent in a wayward final 13 minutes where the Lions roared back into contention.

“You talk about the heat and the altitude at 3 at Ellis Park, or you just choose to ignore it. We chose to talk about it. The guys decided to fight against it and maybe in those last two minutes they showed it, but there was a period in those last 10 minutes where I felt that we were definitely managing ourselves,” said Dobson.

“Afterwards, we had a chat with them and they agreed that they had managed themselves. Often as coaches, you look back and you realise that we weren’t so bad. Because you get so anxious in the coaches box. This one, when we reviewed, was worse than we thought.”

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