Dobson apologises to the fans as Stormers’ losing run continues: ‘Very disappointing’

2026-03-02 - 07:24

Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson has apologised to their fans, after a dismal display saw the Cape-based team lose their third match in a row, going down 24-10 to the Lions in a United Rugby Championship (URC) derby at Ellis Park on Saturday. After suffering back-to-back defeats against the Sharks in Cape Town and Durban at the end of January, the Stormers had a month to sort out their problems, but instead seemed to be even worse, as they made a slew of errors and struggled throughout against the Lions. After a stunning start to the season that saw them win their opening eight matches to top the URC log, they have since slipped down to fifth after 11 games, and are now in a real scrap just to secure a top four finish. Game in hand They do have a game in hand however over the four teams above them on the log, which is topped by Glasgow Warriors nine points ahead of them. Their game in hand, in two weeks’ time against the Bulls at Loftus, is now looking like a must-win match for Dobson and Co. “Three defeats in a row is not good for us. I still think we showed signs of being a reasonable team that will be back,” said a despondent Dobson after the Lions match. “We would like to apologise to our supporters for this run of results. Very disappointed to have not come away with a few points from that game.” The Stormers were on the back foot throughout the first half against the Lions and went into the break trailing 14-0. They fought back briefly at the start of the second half, with the score 21-10 at a stage, but they soon slipped back into their habit of overplaying, which cost them immensely in the last 15 minutes. During that time the Lions received two yellow cards for high hits, one of which was upgraded to red, meaning the Stormers had a two-man advantage for six minutes, and a one-man advantage for the rest, but were unable to break through some terrific Lions defence. Big mistakes Two occasions stood out, when with their two-man advantage in the Lions 22m area, they chose to kick the ball into the end zone, while not under penalty advantage, which saw the ball go dead, giving the hosts a free clearance. Then in the dying moments, when chasing a bonus point, a break downfield saw the ball flicked straight out of play in an offload, again ending a chance they had of scoring and walking away with a point. “Very disappointing result for us. Some of the stuff we looked at from Durban we sort of got right, but we simply made far too many mistakes. In the first half, we turned over nine balls in contact, and we kept doing that unfortunately,” explained Dobson. “Despite the start, I thought we had enough time, especially when they were down to 13, to turn the game. But we just didn’t show any composure whatsoever. “Even in the dying minutes, two passes went out from the hands into touch when we were chasing the bonus point. We were held up three times over the line. “There were also a few calls we could’ve argued, maybe some of those things could’ve been interpreted differently. The truth is, we didn’t deserve to win it.”