Stormers head coach John Dobson said he was proud of his side’s second half performance during their 37-27 United Rugby Championship (URC) victory over the Bulls in Cape Town on Friday.
The home side were full value for their win, which takes them above the Bulls into second place in the URC standings and it’s easy to understand the pride which Dobson referred to as it was the Stormers’ fourth successive win over their arch rivals in the competition.
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Joseph Dweba, Leolin Zas and Suleiman Hartzenberg scored the Stormers’ five-pointers and they were also awarded a penalty try while Manie Libbok finished with a 15-point haul after slotting three penalties and as many conversions.
For the Bulls, Nizaam Carr, Marco van Staden and Bismarck du Plessis scored tries while Johan Goosen added two conversions and two penalties and Chris Smith also kicked a conversion.
Deadlocked at half-time
The Stormers raced into a 13-3 lead after 24 minutes but the Bulls fought back during the latter stages of the opening half and the sides were level at 13-13 when they changed sides at half-time.
Dobson’s charges came out firing after the interval and were rewarded with tries from Dweba, Hartzenberg and Zas during the early stages of the second half.
“I was disappointed with our return when we came in for half-time: we could have done better there,” said Dobson. “But those tries… I read this week that we like to kick to the corner and maul – which is how we got our first try – but the real DNA of the Stormers were those tries.
“So, I was very proud (of that) and pleased for the people. To have 30 000 here and see those tries makes us extremely happy.
“It was always going to be an intense game. Maybe because of the intensity of the game, I thought we weren’t as disciplined as we could’ve been, and I think that ill-discipline comes from a good place tonight – trying to compete, trying to (be physical).
“At half-time, we were disappointed. That’s the truth, but we put it right.”
Stormers skipper Steven Kitshoff led from the front and was rewarded with the official man-of-the-match award after match said his side addressed their shortcomings at the interval.
“It’s a state secret!” he joked when asked what was said during their half-time discussion.
Missed opportunities
“We spoke about missed opportunities – Hacjivah’s double movement and the penalties we gave away in the middle third by being a bit too over-eager in trying to win that confrontation game. I think we kept them in the game a bit.
“At half-time, the only chat was let’s avoid the mid-third penalties – between the two 10-metre lines – and just actually finish our opportunities, and that’s exactly what happened in the first 20 of the second half.”