Stormers get help from Bok coach for Leinster clash
SPOTLIGHT: Stormers coach John Dobson revealed that he received some ‘inside info’ from Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones ahead of his team’s United Rugby Championship Round 16 clash against Leinster in Dublin on Friday.
Jones, who has been with the Boks since 2019 when he initially joined as a consultant, is a former Ireland international and he has also played for Leinster and Munster.
“We had a nice chat with Felix Jones, the Springbok assistant coach, who knows them [Leinster] very well,” said Dobson.
“He played at Leinster and he played at Munster and he knows our players, who have been in an alignment camp [with the Boks] recently.
“I think we prepped really well.
“He gave us some models of when other Irish provinces have done really well against Leinster.
“The truth is nobody has beaten them in any competition since the game [URC semifinal last year] when the Bulls beat them.
“The Bulls won 27-26 almost 10 months ago [in Dublin], so we must be aware of the enormity of the task.
“He [Jones] made it crystal clear that even though we are going to have plans, the opportunities they [Leinster] give opposition teams are few and far between and we have to take those.
“That is not something you can sort of coach and plan around.
“The players want to take every opportunity they get, but that is not something we always control.
“It is a big challenge, but we are up for it.”
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The Bulls’ blueprint
When asked if he took some pointers from the Bulls’ victory last year, Dobson said: “There are some things the Bulls are good at that is not really part of our plan.
“We definitely had a good look at that game.
“There were a couple of reads they [Bulls] made. There were times when Leinster had attacking line-outs and the Bulls turned over two or three of those.
“We had a look at that game and we had a look at a couple of other games when teams have run them close this year.”
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