On Saturday, the DHL Stormers defeated the Emirates Lions 34-27 in a thrilling Vodacom United Rugby Championship South African derby at DHL Stadium in Cape Town.
The win extended the Stormers' unbeaten streak to nine matches across all competitions this season, keeping them atop the URC standings heading into the festive break.
The Stormers trailed 17-10 at halftime after a sloppy first half marred by errors and strong Lions pressure (including two early tries from Ruan Venter). However, they rallied in the second half, with tries from Dylan Maart, Wandisile Simelane, Paul de Villiers, and Evan Roos, plus accurate kicking from Jurie Matthee.
The Lions fought back late with a try from Kelly Mpeku, but secured only a losing bonus point.
DHL Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson was relieved but candidly critical of his team's performance, emphasising that it was far from their best, yet highlighted their resilience.
“We were under huge pressure early on, and I never expected them to get so many yards so easily.”
“Physically, they were on top of us for a large portion of that game, and our carrying in the first half wasn’t good enough. To my mind, it was a poor performance.”
“We knew they’d come like that, and we had to weather the storm, but I never expected them to get so many yards so easily on attack.”
“I don’t think we carried very well at them either.”
Dobson conceded the hosts failed to capitalise on their second-half dominance fully. He described the display as sloppy, noting the team was physically dominated early and made unforced errors, saying they were “fortunate to escape” with the win and disappointed they didn't close out the game better when leading by 14 points late on.
“It wasn’t our best effort. The overriding disappointment for me was how we didn’t close that game out. I knew we’d have to weather the storm. I knew that we’d get away from them in the second half a little bit, but then we really made it very difficult at the end.”
“They were unlucky not to be more in the lead at half-time. Probably unlucky not to get at least a draw in that game.”
Dobson praised the impact of his "Bomb Squad" bench (fresh forwards introduced early in the second half), which shifted momentum and turned the physical battle.
He called it a sign of a good team that they can win ugly: “A sign of a good team is that they can win even when they’re not playing well. There’s something in this group. It’s not a squad full of big names, it’s a bunch of guys willing to work for each other, do the ugly things and the unseen work.”
Overall, Dobson stressed there's room for improvement ahead of tougher tests, like their next derby against the Bulls on January 3, 2026, but thanked his players for putting the team six points clear at the top. A position he wouldn't have predicted earlier in the season.
