John Dobson angered by Ireland forward’s croc roll on Deon Fourie which ‘no player could survive’
Stormers head coach John Dobson and Iain Henderson's croc roll on Deon Fourie.
Stormers head coach John Dobson has confirmed that Deon Fourie has suffered a knee injury after being the victim of a croc roll in their game against Ulster.
The Springboks forward was forced off after Ireland international Iain Henderson put his weight on the leg of the 39-year-old in the first half of their 38-38 draw.
Henderson was initially sin-binned with the incident sent to the bunker and after a review it was upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
Outlawed by World Rugby
Due to the danger of croc rolls, they were outlawed by World Rugby two years ago. As a result, they have decreased, but there are still a few incidents with some individuals getting it wrong at the breakdown.
Dobson has therefore called on the players, coaches and the sport’s bigwigs to make sure it is completely eliminated so there isn’t a repeat of the Fourie collision.
“I feel very sorry for Deon Fourie,” Dobson told reporters. “That (croc roll) has to be removed from the game, and the player must be removed for the whole match.
“Deon has damaged the medial ligaments in his knee. We’ll have to learn that no player can survive that. If we don’t take that out, there’s no room for turnovers, and if there are no ball stealers at the breakdown, the game becomes like rugby league.”
Dobson did not believe that it was an intentional from Henderson but it is the player and the Stormers that has to count the cost of the Irishman’s illegal action.
“I don’t think a player does that or wants to injure a guy’s knee deliberately. I think the referee probably got it right. But it was a very big blow for us, especially considering the form Deon is in,” he added.
Fourie’s injury overshadowed what was an outstanding game as the Stormers rescued a draw in the final minute after being awarded a penalty try.
They dropped down to second in the URC table, with Glasgow Warriors claiming a victory on Friday, but it keeps them in contention for top spot.
Dobson was therefore left with mixed feelings following a game where both sides perhaps felt aggrieved at not getting the win.
Dobson’s other frustrations
“It’s probably a mixture of frustration that we didn’t get five points, because I thought at times our dominance was pretty imperious, but in the end we’re probably lucky to get the three,” he added.
“There were four clear moments. The two pick-and-go penalties we conceded – one of which is a 14-point swing – then Evan [Roos’] knock-on on the tryline from a pick-and-go, and another knock-on when we were played in.
“Those are four clear tries, and that’s without the general ‘what-ifs’. So that was frustrating – some of our mistakes.
“I thought our fight was good – the scrambling defence – but we fell off at times. And very disappointing discipline: offside penalties, soft penalties, which put us under pressure.”