The Stormers director of rugby John Dobson wants his side to launch a defiance campaign when the United Rugby Championship resumes at the end of the month.
The URC went into recess after last weekend’s matches with only two South African teams in the top half of the points table. The Bulls lead the South African charge occupying third place with the Lions one spot below.
The Sharks, after an inauspicious start in their away matches, have moved up to ninth, while the Stormers are in lowly 13th with just two wins from their five starts.
While the Bulls and the Lions are among the competition’s high society, Dobson in running the rule over his team’s performances describe a scene straight out of Halloween.
Injury has chopped down several of their leading men, while more than a dozen departures have contributed to the pressure on their wider squad.
“We knew this year would be one of consolidation because of the ownership,” said Dobson in relation to the equity partners who have come on board. “We only brought a few players in. One was Steven Kitshoff and we got JD Schickerling as well but something like 14 players moved on.”
Still, Dobson did not envisage the inaugural winners of the tournament being so far down the order. “As Mike Tyson says, ‘everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face’,” Dobson pointedly reminded.
“We have seven Springboks, six are currently injured, with Manie (Libbok) the exception. Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Salmaan Moerat, Evan Roos, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezul, Damian Willemse — and Herschel Jantjies has just come back. Those aren’t small players and it has made our life difficult.”
Some of the injuries are significant and the Stormers would do well to plug the holes in their front row when the competition resumes.
“Kitshoff's injury is indeterminate, Frans has a pretty serious ankle and could be out for between six weeks and four months, Evan won’t play again this year, Deon will be back some time in December, while Damian next April.”
Dobson said Malherbe’s absence will be significant given the derby matches they will be involved in, while the prognosis for Kitshoff making a speedy recovery from a neck injury isn’t rosy. “He is having an operation. He has to have the fusion done. That is a huge blow to us.”
He explained why the absentees will be difficult to replace.
“We rely on a turnover game. Our best exponents are Roos, Kitshoff and Fourie. None are playing. Our best ball carriers are Roos and Kitshoff. When I formed the leadership group at the start of the season it had Fourie, Kitshoff, Malherbe and Willemse. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
We have seven Springboks, six are currently injured, with Manie (Libbok) the exception. Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Salmaan Moerat, Evan Roos, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezul, Damian Willemse — and Herschel Jantjies has just come back. Those aren’t small players and it has made our life difficult
On the plus side, Dobson expects Feinberg-Mngomezulu to return to action for the derby matches starting against the Sharks in Durban at the end of the month.
“My job is to rebuild confidence. The guys have a two-week gap.” He is preparing his team for an almighty battle against the Sharks, who he describes as an “almost World Cup winning team”.
“Nobody will give us a chance in Durban. When we do our planning we look six games down the line. I knew what the team for Durban would look like but now it is very different. We will have a defiance campaign because we are being written off. And with good reason.”
Dobson said he will drive the team on the principles of “accept”, “acknowledge” and “act”. “We have accepted where we are but we'll have three weeks to prepare.”
Their poor start has meant they have had to recalibrate their expectations for the season. “If we had beaten Glasgow the EPCR (Champions Cup) would have been let’s go as far as we can. Our mindset now is it is a nice to have. We’ll still go for everything, spin and win, but our day job will be to go up the URC log.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.