‘No silver lining’ for Stormers after home semifinal hopes slip away

Finishing with two bonus points couldn’t assuage the bitter disappointment Stormers coach John Dobson felt after his side’s 26-24 defeat to Munster in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Saturday. 

The Stormers scored their fourth try in the final minute at Cape Town Stadium to pick up the bonus points, but the loss saw them slip below Ulster into third place on the log, putting their hopes of playing a semifinal on home soil in jeopardy. 

“There’s no silver lining today. It’s a major disappointment, full stop. We wanted to host a home semifinal,” Dobson said. 

The Stormers face Benetton in the final round of league play on Friday night, a match they should win comfortably, but Ulster too have a match at home that they will expect to emerge victorious from against Edinburgh later that night.

Dobson and Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff both expressed hope that the Scottish club could do them a favour, but were also realistic about their own faults in letting slip the opportunity against a gutsy and smart Munster 

“Those last 10 minutes before halftime, we had them on the ropes and kept letting them off. You could see them sitting down; we eventually got the try,” said Dobson.

“Then at the start of the second half we missed a penalty, had two five-metre line-outs [and didn’t score] and that period killed us. We let them off the hook.”

He bemoaned Munster’s gamesmanship in that period: “They kept sitting down and Steve was telling the ref to keep them up.” And while the Irish side were fortunate not be yellow-carded for the constant infringements, the Stormers were also guilty of not taking the opportunities their pressure during that period merited. 

“I knew halftime would give them a chance to reset, which is why I was so thrilled with our start in the second. We got the tempo right, got into them at the rucks, but we just let them back in 20 minutes into the second half. I can’t explain it.”

Dobson’s counterpart, Graham Rowntree, said his side took heed of the lessons they learnt against the Sharks in the Champions Cup round of 16 match in Durban two weeks ago, when they conceded four tries in a chaotic period at the start of the second half.

“When we were last out here in Durban, the 10 minutes after halftime killed us,” Rowntree said.

“In the changeroom at halftime I said, ‘The next 10 minutes defines what happens in this game.’ It was a barrage. I’m immensely proud of our composure and our fight, not just in that period but in the whole game.”

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.