Dobson and Stormers nervously look over shoulders as selection puzzle bites

The Stormers now have to make peace with the fact that they will have to travel the low road if they want to achieve United Rugby Championship success this season.

To be fair, their GPS co-ordinates, for some time, weren't set for the high road either. Their slip-up against the Ospreys has left them in a precarious spot as they hope to secure a place in the top four of the URC.

Director of rugby John Dobson warned before last Saturday's defeat his team has everything to lose and nothing to gain against the Welsh side, who to be fair, also tasted success over the Sharks and the Lions this season.

Sure, the Stormers did not assemble their best 23 for the match, but it was still a clash they were expected to win. Dobson questioned his decision to make wholesale changes, but added even if he had made 10 changes the Stormers should still have had the measure of the Ospreys on home soil. While the Stormers might have got the job done had they fielded more players who were involved in the Champions Cup clash against La Rochelle, Dobson acknowledged that would have over-extended those players for demands later in the season.

Dobson's troubles are compounded by a crippling injury list, particularly at loosehead prop.

Given their poor start to the URC, the Stormers have been playing with a sword over their head for some time. The defeat to the Ospreys has brought the blade ever closer.

Instead of eyeing a place in the top four and thus the right to stage a home quarterfinal, the sixth-placed team on the points table now have to nervously look over their shoulder as five teams lurk within a point. They are level on points with the Ospreys, while Edinburgh, Connacht, Ulster and the Lions complete the logjam a point back.

Fourth place is still attainable for the Stormers, but then the Bulls will have to suffer more implosions at home against Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors and Benetton before travelling to Durban to end their league commitments against the resurgent Sharks.

Benetton, who are a place above the Stormers, may also gatecrash the top four.

The Stormers' run-in to the end of the league stages will require a fair amount of alchemy in selection.

The judicious division of labour is Dobson's biggest challenge over the coming weeks. Getting game time into players he may need at the tail end of the season came to bite him last Saturday. It is unlikely he will abandon the selection process they've had in place.

They face competition favourites Leinster in Cape Town this weekend and, unfortunately for the hosts, Ireland's most decorated team is under pressure. After their chastening defeat to the Lions, log leaders Leinster are now just one point clear of Glasgow Warriors. Failure at Ellis Park means they have to place sharper focus on five log points from this weekend's game.

Two of the Stormers' last three matches are on the other side of the equator.

They are away to the Dragons in round 16 and have now perhaps been robbed of the luxury of fully rotating their squad for that fixture. They then travel to Connacht where they will need all hands on deck at a demanding venue usually buffeted by winds.

They then return home where the Lions will lie in wait. The Lions will have the benefit of not having to endure a cross continental trek for that engagement and will merely have to wing it over the Karoo.

That too will be a fixture in which the Stormers will have to pull out all the stops. The Lions beat them in Cape Town two seasons ago and left no doubt against Leinster that they still have designs on a place in the top eight.

The judicious division of labour is Dobson's biggest challenge over the coming weeks. Getting game time into players he may need at the tail end of the season came back to bite him last Saturday. It is unlikely he will abandon the selection process they've had in place.

Squad rotation, as Leinster coach Leo Cullen eloquently explained after his side's big defeat at Ellis Park, is an occupational hazard coaches have to live with.

Striking the balance between instant gratification and season-ending success is becoming a bigger challenge.