Dobson proud of 'mature' Stormers
John Dobson expressed his pride at seeing the DHL Stormers go toe-to-toe with La Rochelle in another one-point thriller against the defending champions in Cape Town.
The tourists won 22-21 after a missed conversion from Manie Libbok at the death stopped the DHL Stormers from dethroning the defending European champions, and claiming a second consecutive win against La Rochelle in the 2023-24 Champions Cup.
Having taken a 16-0 lead in the second half, the Stormers lost four forwards and wing Leolin Zas to injury and La Rochelle took full advantage, scoring 22 points to progress to the quarter-finals and keep alive their dreams of a three-peat.
In scenes reminiscent of the pool clash between the two sides in December, the Stormers gave themselves an opportunity to snatch a victory after the hooter when Suleiman Hartzenberg collected a cross-field kick to score, but Libbok’s conversion was steered well wide by the Cape Doctor.
“It was an impossible kick. In those winds, it was impossible,” Dobson said, after the match.
“What made me really proud, was how they tried to score that try. Damian [Willemse] could’ve scored in the corner, but tried to come in. A lot of teams would have just taken the try. We didn’t want to score a maul try, even though our maul looked reasonably promising.
“We were playing the champions, completely disrupted with injuries and we were worrying about where we are going to score. That maturity under that pressure.
“Every other team in the world is mauling it. We would normally maul it and ask Manie to kick it. That sort of composure and maturity was really cool.”
The defeat may be a blessing in disguise for the Stormers, as it means they avoid a potential trip to Dublin to face Leinster while having to deal with an injury cloud, before a crucial run of games in the Vodacom URC.
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Having beaten La Rochelle by one point in December and run them close on Saturday, Dobson said the Stormers are closing the gap on the top teams of European rugby.
“The more we can play together and get these experiences,” Dobson said. “We’ve gone toe-to-toe with arguably the best club side in the world, two games in a row. It finished one-one in the series, so we can claim that.
“At the moment the Champions Cup is a bonus. We are maybe a year or two off, just in terms of experience. We are definitely not there yet.
“Next week could have been really tough and it would’ve compromised the game against Ospreys. To me, this was a bonus. We just wanted it more to show our supporters that we are at the top of club rugby. We aren’t far off the top table.”
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
