DHL Stormers Director of Rugby, John Dobson, apologised to their supporters that DHL Western Province is still looking for their first win of the season, with only this Saturday’s fixture against the Sanlam Boland Cavaliers at home to go in the Carling Currie Cup 2025 Premier Division.
“To the staff, to the players, I take full responsibility. It’s not good for our brand to be where we are now. I didn’t expect that, and I didn’t want that to happen. Basically, it’s my responsibility, and we knew that we would have a tough Currie Cup.”
“To our loyal supporters in the blue and white hoops, I just want to apologise for where we are on the log. I don’t want to make excuses. We had a plan to reboot this squad, which we are doing, and we knew we would take a little bit of pain this year.”
Dobson explained the number of youth and club players, saying: “We had a plan to reboot this squad, and we knew we would have a tough Currie Cup, which is why we tried to reinforce it where we could. It’s part of the greater plan to reboot the whole shape of the Stormers for our long-term project. It’s not good for our brand and where we want to be.”
“I don’t know how much we could’ve done differently. We’ve got fifteen club guys in at the start, and we’ve got some guys from the Sevens. Junior Boks like Riley [Norton] and Oliver Reid, and some of the existing seniors like Louw Nel, Gary Porter and Scarra needed game time, so to gel them was a tough ask."
“I know people out there love Western Province. I can’t hunt with the hounds and run with the wolves by saying, ‘The Currie Cup is important’ and then say, ‘This is great for us developmentally, ‘ which it was. The plan is sound, but not where we are at the moment.”
“I have to give Labeeb massive credit. He could’ve knocked on our door and asked for JD Schickerling, Ali Vermaak, Johnny Roche, but he didn’t because we had to work back from that [URC opener] against Leinster.”
“I didn’t expect the pain to be this bad, and for that I apologise, but we stuck to the process."
