DHL Stormers coach John Dobson was feeling upbeat enough after his team’s 36-19 Vodacom United Rugby Championship win over the Scarlets at the weekend to arrive at the post-match press conference grinning like a Cheshire cat, and it was all about numbers.
Some of those numbers wouldn’t be what everyone in the rugby coaching world would be pleased about, but specific to the Stormers and where they want to be, they were good reason for Dobson to smile.
He didn’t tell us the first number, but it would be easy to tally up for someone who had time to do that – the number of players used in the URC so far this season. According to Dobson, his team has used the most players so far.
“We’ve used the most players of any club or franchise in the URC so far this season. That normally wouldn’t be something you would crow about, but for us, given our plan, it is,” said Dobson.
It is indeed if you know about Dobson’s quest to grow the squad depth in this difficult season where his team will, in addition to their commitment to the URC competition they won in its inaugural term, also play in the European Champions Cup for the first time .
The Stormers don’t at this point (a new equity partner will solve this when it happens) have the financial clout of the Cell C Sharks or even the Vodacom Bulls, so they are having to grow their own depth with an emphasis on players they already have and players coming through in the Western Cape region rather than acquiring it through the check book.
So Dobson, while still having the intent of winning games so that his team has a platform to defend the title of champions they earned in their fairytale finish to the 2021/2022 season, has made it clear he can’t be risk averse in his selections. While publicly he backed the inexperienced team he selected for the Scarlets game, privately he did admit that he’d only really know how good it was until it played.
SPREADING THE NET WIDE
Springbok calls and a willingness to mix up selections have seen the Stormers spread their net wide, and that is where the second set of numbers that make Dobson happy come in: numbers such as five wins in seven games and one draw, equating to a joint third place with the Bulls with a game on hand on their Pretoria opponents. Numbers such as 29 points from those seven games, leaving them just one point behind second placed Ulster after the same number of games.
The Stormers have started the defense of their trophy well, and they’ve done so while testing their depth and giving new players a run. Friday night’s game wasn’t the first where the Stormers fielded a changed-up team, they also did so in the first tour match against Zebre in Parma, which they got through to win with some comfort in the end.
Here’s another number of interest: 12. That is how many players that finished the Stormers game against Scarlets were also part of the Western Province Currie Cup team that started the 2021/2022 domestic season back in January by being outplayed by the Bulls at home in cape town The Currie Cup side is of course coached by Jerome Paarwater, and not Dobson, but the individual growth implicit in that stat is really the point.
FAITH IN YOUNG PLAYERS
Dobson has a lot of faith in the young players coming through the system, and has not been shy to back them. His faith is paying off, with the Stormers playing quite exceptional attacking rugby at times in the first half of the Scarlets game, with the prematch predictions of it being a close game, and one the Stormers could potentially lose, being unfounded.
One of the stars was 21-year-old Kade Wolhuter, back in rugby after a traumatic injury sustained playing for the Stormers two years ago that put him out of rugby for some time. He’s only the fourth ranked flyhalf at the Stormers at present, but if he was playing at the Sharks he might well be the first.
Wolhuter’s difference to the regular Stormers flyhalf, the new Springbok Manie Libbok, was a concern before the game. Wolhuter has great potential, but he is a more traditional South African style flyhalf, meaning he takes the ball a bit deeper than Libbok, who is one of the best in the game when it comes to taking the ball flat.
In the end, it turned out that Wolhuter surprised Dobson with his willingness to play flat against the Scarlets.
“I must admit I didn’t to see Kade’s evolution go to the extent it has this quickly,” Dobson agreed afterwards. “Kade was a very happy man after the game in the change room. And I feel very pleased for him. He was back to being the physical player he was before being injured and certainly adds to our options.”
Libbok will be back for the Stormers on Saturday against the Dragons at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth because, in Dobson’s words, he is rugby obsessed and just wants to play. He apparently contacted Dobson to ask him if he could play, he doesn’t want to rest. But if Wolhuter can get a chance off the bench to add further to his experience, that’d be a boon for the Stormers.
PORTER VINDICATES FAITH
Gary Porter, a former local player brought in as a relative unknown from a stint overseas, showed the potential Dobson had spotted in him with a great performance at lock on a night where the Stormers appeared to have resolved their lineout problems, while center Cornel Smith what another relative newcomer to catch the eye.
“We had quite a considerable lead at halftime but the Scarlets came back at us with the wind behind us and at times it felt like 15-13 rather than 36-19, because that’s how nervous I was because of knowing how important it was for this young team to get the win,” said Dobson.
“Cornel’s partnership with Dan du Plessis, our looseforward combination, Leon Lyons scrumming a penalty late in the game, the way Conor Evans slotted in when he came on for Gary (Porter), they were all excellent and added to our depth as well as have created some healthy competition for places.
“That was the point of this whole exercise and there will be elements of it again next week (against the Dragons). I really feel we are on the cusp of a really good generation, provided we can keep this group of players together. The likes of Andre-Hugo (Venter), Kade and Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezuu), Suileman (Hartzenberg), Conor and many more are going to go on to become really great players.”