Stormers discipline: John Dobson slams 'poor' behaviour after Sharks double

The Stormers head into the Six Nations break with more questions than answers after another costly lapse in discipline and execution saw their United Rugby Championship (URC) form falter again.

A second consecutive defeat to the Sharks not only handed the Durban side a historic first double over the Cape outfit, but also exposed recurring flaws that director of rugby John Dobson and his staff must urgently address if the Stormers are to remain genuine title contenders.

The Cape side dropped to third place on the official log behind the Glasgow Warriors and second-placed Leinster, although they have a game in hand.

Director of rugby John Dobson and his assistants must find a way to arrest their current woes over the next couple of weeks, most glaringly the set-piece, discipline and their inability to finish off opportunities created.

The Sharks won 36-24 at Kings Park on Saturday and completed their first-ever double victory over the Stormers.

“Credit must go to the Sharks; they beat us properly over both weeks,” Dobson said.

“Our discipline was poor, and our set-piece definitely let us down. I thought their aerial game was really good, and they played with a very clear plan that worked for them. The most destroying part (tonight) is that the same things that went wrong last week, went wrong this week.

“Failure to convert five-metre line-outs, giving penalties away at mauls, which led to some of the discipline stuff. So for us to fix that stuff, there must be a change in behaviour. The Sharks’ plan worked again, and we couldn’t respond. It was really poor from us, and I feel bad for our supporters.”

The Stormers conceded more than 15 penalties on Saturday and also played with 14 players for 20 minutes after two yellow cards. They led 17-14 at half-time and 24-14 early in the second half. However, they could not sustain that pressure and their discipline, alongside the missed opportunities, eventually led to their downfall.

The worry for the Stormers is that it happened for a second time in a row, and they had an opportunity to learn from last weekend’s defeat, but on Saturday, it didn’t look like it. Dobson said the fact that they played the Sharks the previous week gave them insight into what they had to work on for the return game.

“Playing them back-to-back was nice in the sense that we saw what went wrong last week, and we thought we could fix that. Other than our two starts to the halves, it felt very similar to last week. But I think we were marginally better (in Durban). 

“We didn’t win the contestable (kick) game as much as we wanted to.

"If you are on 11 penalties after 20 minutes, that will include a card. And if you play for 20 minutes with just seven forwards and Damian Willemse must pack down on flank, it won’t be good enough.

“To me, it was our discipline and the lack of conversion (of chances) and stopping them from five meters out. It was a problem last week as well.”