11 October 2026
The Stormers powered to a commanding six-try 39-22 United Rugby Championship (URC) victory against the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Cape Town on Saturday. Head coach John Dobson praised his team's relentless set-piece dominance and physical defensive display. The clinical performance successfully wiped away the frustrations of their recent tour.
The Cape outfit dominated the collision and territory battles from the opening whistle. A powerful scrummaging display yielded five or six penalties to completely dismantle the opposition. Dobson credited assistant coach Rito Hlungwani, lock JD Schickerling, and the rest of the pack for repairing the structural faults of the previous week.
“It was a pretty compelling performance by us. I never thought we were in trouble," Dobson said. "Credit to Rito Hlungwani, JD Schickerling and the forwards. There was the obvious fault correction from last week, but I thought physically and defensively we stood up.”
“I didn’t expect us to get five or six scrum penalties. We’ve got to try and reproduce that.”
The team discovered their signature attacking flow as soon as they secured aerial and breakdown contestables. Eleven returning Springboks boosted the match-23 squad with immediate international pedigree. World Cup winners Damian Willemse and Cobus Reinach combined seamlessly with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to ignite the backline.
“What I liked about our game... is that when we did win the contestables and got into their half, we played some nice rugby," Dobson noted. "We sort of had a bit of a flow, which we hadn’t had on the tour. To me, without being arrogant, the process justified the outcome.”
The tactical understanding between Willemse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu solidified the backfield defence. Their return relieved heavy pressure from school-leaver Yaqeen Ahmed, who filled in bravely during the tough Edinburgh leg. Dobson emphasised that while individual brilliance injected magic, the comprehensive bonus-point victory remained a collective squad triumph.
“Sacha and Damian, you can just see it. Their backfield rotation and understanding of where each other are... It’s magic," said the coach. "If you look at the personnel, I think that’s why it’s a nice reminder. It’s a collective. It’s a team thing.”