VIDEO: Dobson's plan reaps rewards
REACTION: The Stormers put down a massive marker with their 27-0 demolition of the Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Springbok-laden Stormers scored four unanswered tries – three of them in a dominant first half – against the New Zealand outfit in the first game of the final season at Newlands.
It was certainly one of the most dominant performances produced by the Cape Town side, defensively they were excellent and their maul and scrums were just as accurate, which all went according to plan admit head coach John Dobson.
“I was pleased with our dominance, ” Dobson told reporters after the match.
“We weren’t nearly as clinical as we liked, but it’s great to see our maul going again, the scrum plan work perfectly; we knew we had to put everything into defending those first three scrums,”
He added: “From a planning point of view, the defence was excellent,”
The Stormes boss is under no illusion, acknowledging the lack of accuracy and vigour on attack was a concern.
The Cape Town rushed to a 19-0 after just 26 minutes, but thereafter butchered a few try-scoring opportunities. The Newlands faithful had to wait right near the end for a Damian Willemse try to wrap up the bonus-point win.
“I saw flashes on attack, I just think we dropped a few too many balls. Nonetheless, other than us not scoring in the second half, I think things went per plan,”
From a player perspective Stormers prop Steven Kitshoff had huge praise for defence coach Norman Laker after the solid performance.
“A lot of credit to Norman and our outside backs for driving line speed and putting the [Hurricanes] under pressure, it actually worked out very well.
“Think as soon as we got our maul and scrums going, the snowball effect of dominance just came through and that just put us on the front foot when it came to our carries and defensive pattern,”
*Also read: Bok skipper faces lengthy lay-off
Next up for the Stormers are the Bulls at Newlands. The Bulls will be hurting from their defeat to Sharks and will be desperate to bounce back.
The hosts will be without the services of Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, while Bongi Mbonambi and Jaco Coetzee are also unlikely to run out against the Bulls.
By Leezil Hendricks
@Leezil07
@rugby365com
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