John Dobson’s four-year contract extension as coach of the Stormers sets the franchise up to become the globe’s leading rugby club franchise and it will also make Cape Town the desired home to the game’s best players.
The interpretation of “best” can be extended to “talented, aspiring and established”. Dobbo, as he is known in rugby circles, breathes rugby in Western Province and he has been a pioneer for change since his appointment as the Stormers coach.
The Stormers are the most transformed team in the franchise’s history and in 2022 the Dobson-coached Stormers also became the first Stormers squad to win an international title when they beat the Bulls in the inaugural United Rugby Championship final. Dobson in 2022 built a squad from established loyal veterans, exciting local talent and he also identified and invested in players other franchises didn’t believe were worth a salary.
Among those players is Manie Libbok, who was axed from the Bulls squad, shifted to the Sharks and released without a second thought when Dobson sought his signature.
Dobson’s biggest strength is he knows the style of rugby he believes speaks most naturally to the schoolboy talent in Western Province and to the multicultural make-up of the rugby-playing base in the province. He felt Libbok could ignite and bring to life the attacking potential of the Stormers backs. The Stormers, with Libbok at the forefront, finished second in the league, hosted a quarterfinal and semifinal at home and then won the final at home. They lost just four in 21 URC matches last season and are unbeaten in 20 successive home matches at the Cape Town Stadium.
Dobson’s presence is the reason so few of his players want to go elsewhere, so many want to be in Cape Town and the core of WP’s very best schools’ players, club players and those in post-school tertiary institutions believe in WP Rugby.
Dobson did so despite the departures between 2020 and 2021 of 2019 World Cup-winning stars such as Damian de Allende, Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi. Veteran powerhouses like tighthead prop Frans Malherbe recently signed a three-year extension and the hottest prospect in South African and world rugby, Damian Willemse, signed for five years.
Dobson’s presence is the reason so few of his players want to go elsewhere, so many want to be in Cape Town and the core of WP’s very best schools’ players, club players and those in post-school tertiary institutions believe in WP Rugby and by extension the Stormers.
Dobson’s desire to create playing opportunities has delivered squad depth unrivalled in South Africa and the most revealing statistic is that he had masterminded five successive wins against Jake White’s imposing Bulls, three in Cape Town and two at Loftus, and he has never been able to select the same match 23 or starting XV in any of those five matches. The starting XV that beat the Bulls in front of 44,000 at Loftus a week ago had just five players from the starting XV that beat the Bulls in the final of the URC last season. The starting XV from the Stormers side that won this season’s league match 37-27 in Cape Town had just seven remaining for last Saturday’s win in Pretoria.
Dobson had used 44 players over those five successive wins because of national player rest policies, rotation, injuries and departures. He has entrusted several under 21 players in these matches and some who could still be playing under 19 rugby. He has trusted the experience of 38 and 36-year-old veterans like Brok Harris and Deon Fourie. Good enough is old enough for Dobson and good enough is young enough for Dobson.
The achievement of beating a Bulls side coached by 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White on five successive occasions within one calendar year cannot be overstated. What makes it more remarkable is the extent of players used to do so, which speaks to the structures and systems put in place by Dobson and his support coaching and management staff.
Dobson’s signature to stay at the Stormers, despite several overseas offers, is a gift to WP Rugby and, by extension, to South African rugby. We want the best of the best South Africans contributing to South African rugby and in Dobson the Stormers have that for the next four years.
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