Following the DHL Stormers' historic 27-21 comeback win over Munster in Limerick, coach John Dobson hailed his team's “fight” and “resilience,” particularly the impact of his replacement forwards and the significance of their first-ever victory at Thomond Park.
The victory was the Stormers' first at Thomond Park and solidified their best-ever URC start with an unbeaten record, a major confidence boost for the squad, especially without several key Springboks.
Dobson said he sees the win as a potential catalyst for greater consistency and believes the growing squad depth will help them compete for the URC title and in the Champions Cup.
He also admitted the Stormers were "outplayed" in the first half, citing poor discipline and defensive lapses that led to three Munster tries.
“I thought Munster were absolutely superb in the first half, in a game where everything went wrong for us in the first half,” Dobson said.
“They really put us under pressure, especially physically, where they really stood up to us, cleaned us off the doubles, put our defence under pressure, and we conceded three tries in the half, which is obviously credit to them.”
“It was our worst defensive performance of the season so far against a good team. Discipline was poor in the first half; you can’t be giving away penalties for pulling a jersey or being the third man in.”
Dobson said that his pre-planned replacement strategy “made a huge difference,” particularly at scrum time, and praised the team's growing depth.
“The turning point came with the introduction of the Stormers’ version of the Springboks’ Bomb Squad, a six-forward surge that changed the momentum of the match.”
“We always had the plan to bring six forwards on at the same time,” he said. “We trained it at the captain’s practice, how the calling would work with all six coming on at the same time. We felt at the time we might as well roll the dice because we were in so much trouble, but they made a huge difference.”
“It was almost the plan. We knew Munster would put us under pressure and our scrum’s magic, even without some really good players. That culture is breeding itself nicely across South African rugby.”
Dobson also highlighted the team's unyielding spirit.
“This team will always get off the canvas, that’s who we are. We saw it in Treviso; we’ve been a poor travelling team, but it’s been four away wins in a row by a really tight group.”
“It was a big team effort, even for a guy like Clinton Swart, who just sits on the bench, doesn’t make a mistake, and helps in training. Dylan Maart had never been overseas before, but comes in, flies on an international flight and scores a try on debut, that’s very special.”
With the URC campaign heating up and the Investec Champions Cup kicking off next weekend, Dobson said squad depth is becoming the Stormers’ quiet superpower.
“What gives us hope is how this team has fought and the quality of depth we’re building,” he explained. “I could name a lot of guys who didn’t play today, let alone the Springboks.”
“It feels like we’re building something in terms of our squad size to last and compete properly. The project is growing in shape, and we wanted cohesion. And what is nice is no injury concerns, and we can win on the road.”