The Hollywoodbets Sharks defeated the DHL Stormers 30-19 in their United Rugby Championship (URC) clash on January 24, 2026, at the DHL Stadium. John Dobson, the Stormers' Director of Rugby, expressed frustration with his team's performance, lamenting uncharacteristic errors and a lack of composure in the high-stakes derby.
Dobson said the match felt similar to their narrow loss to the Sharks in Durban a year ago, where the Stormers made crucial mistakes that gifted the Sharks points.
The Stormers were error-prone throughout the match, making several uncharacteristic errors and displaying poor discipline, which the Sharks capitalised on.
“On both sides of the lineout, we were poor. Not converting our 22 metre entries and our discipline also cost us. I don’t mind penalties, but foul play penalties like tackling a man in the air or whatever we did, those are frustrating. Had we addressed those things, I think the score could’ve been in our favour.”
“If you look at the URC stats before this round, we were the No 1 lineout, No 1 maul and No 1 scrum, but today you didn’t get that picture. We’ll be back next week in Durban.”
Dobson admitted the performance was particularly painful given the occasion, with over 52,000 fans filling the stadium for the coastal derby.
“I’ll tell you what feels horrible. The people of Cape Town have come out, and we produced our worst performance of the season, and it wasn’t even a thriller at the end,” he said.
“From that point of view, it feels terrible. But we’ve got a plan for next week which we’d already made before this result, and we’ll be better.”
Dobson gave credit to the Sharks for their significant fight and strong defence, which disrupted the Stormers' ball and prevented them from burying the game when they had the chance.
The loss leaves the Stormers with plenty to consider as they prepare for a return match in Durban next weekend.
“The silver lining to the dark cloud, I suppose, is that we have the opportunity to travel to Durban to set things right. There is an element, and Sacha spoke about it after the game, that the bogey of being unbeaten is off our back.”