United Rugby Championship: Stormers head coach John Dobson labels Munster loss as a ‘major disappointment’

Stormers head coach John Dobson admitted his side’s 26-24 loss to Munster in Cape Town was a “major disappointment”.

The defeat ends a 19-game win streak at Cape Town Stadium for the defending champions and is a big blow for their top two hopes.

Dropped to third

Ulster climbed above the Stormers on the table with only one round left and look set to finish in second. Dobson was frustrated that his side let their position slip and saw no positives from the game.

“Today was a major disappointment,” Dobson said. “We want to host a semi-final, so it’s hard to see a silver lining.

“The winning run was going to go at some stage. It’s not something we invested in as a team. We wanted to stay at home and we have this whole drive to make Cape Town smile, so it’s disappointing for the fans. We wanted to provide the occasion of a home semi-final and wanted to keep it in our own hands.

“We had to win today, that’s the bottom line. Just in terms of that home semi, which is so important. I don’t think those two bonus points are going to make a difference, to be honest. It’s just so disappointing because we were so close. It’s hard to see a silver lining from today other than the fact that we didn’t pick up any serious injuries.”

The hosts started poorly and Munster shot out to an early lead. However, the Stormers fought back and managed to go into half-time level at 12-12.

Effort not at fault

Dobson claimed that his team’s effort was never at fault but he was not quite sure what was missing during the second period.

“In those last 10 minutes before half time, we had them on the ropes and we just kept letting them off the ropes. We lost two lineouts. You could see them sitting down. We eventually got the try. Then we got those penalties after half time and we didn’t convert. That period killed us. We absolutely had them on the ropes,” he said.

“The effort was there today, but something was missing. I can’t put my finger on it. I can’t fault the effort or character but something was missing in that second half.”

Stormers skipper Steven Kitshoff agreed with his coach and believed that not coming away with points in the first 10 minutes of the second half took its toll.

“I think that was our best 10 minutes of the game, to not come away with points is draining. The guys worked so hard, got penalty after penalty, but the yellow card didn’t happen and then we didn’t get points. It does drain you, it feels like you are going nowhere,” Kitshoff said.

The Stormers finish their regular season against Benetton at home this weekend.

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