Durban — The result was a 22-22 stalemate but the press conferences after the Stormers had burgled two precious United Rugby Championship points from the Sharks left nobody under any illusions as to which was the happier camp.
A beaming John Dobson was in fact typically candid in the first words he uttered: “The truth is we were lucky tonight!
“They had enough chances to finish us, they could have closed us out, but it was nice for something to go our way for a change,” Dobson added with a grin.
A crestfallen Sean Everitt lamented his team’s failure to land the killer punch when they had the Stormers wobbling against the ropes.
“The plan came off smoothly, the pressure was applied, we did everything right for 71 minutes and then we threw it away,” he said. “Although we did not lose, it feels like we beat ourselves."
Everitt said that his team is learning the hard way that small mistakes can have big consequences.
“At 22-15, we lost a lineout which led to Sbu Nkosi’s yellow card and we were under pressure from there and could not get out of our 22.,” he said in giving one example.
“There are a lot of disappointed players in the change room. It is not the result you want when you have had such domination. We will bounce back.”
The Sharks have that opportunity this week when they visit the Stormers in the return match and while they will be focusing on bettering their discipline and goal-kicking, Dobson has to find a way to fix his scrum, which took a heavy beating.
Dobson was in fact full of praise for Sharks loosehead prop Ox Nche, who gave young Sazi Sandi a mauling.
"We know they have a great front row, and we're playing with a young tighthead. Sazi did well last week against the Bulls.
“But I thought it was a tough experience for him. He sort of clawed his way back, and we could have gotten one or two rewards, but Ox was absolutely magnificent.
“Ox’s growth is absolutely incredible and he's one of the better looseheads in world rugby. We're not a bad front row ... I've got no doubt it won't happen next week.”
The Stormers return home now after two excellent results in Pretoria and Durban
“Seven points on the road is good, especially playing as poorly as we played tonight,” Dobson said.
“If you look at the process, it's probably our worst performance of the URC. So, I'm really happy that we managed to get something.
As he did after his team had stolen the spoils at Loftus, Dobson lauded his team’s never-say-die attitude.
“Everybody must have thought we were dead and buried,” he said.
“To play rugby in the Cape with everything that's going on and everything happening in the world, you've got to be quite resilient and this team has got enough of that.
“We finished on 18 penalties, including seven scrum penalties. I don't know how far back you have to go to remember the last time we conceded that many.
“It does sort of inspire us to come away with points from these two big unions.”
@MikeGreenaway67
IOL Sport