John Dobson: Stormers’ ‘future is still in our hands’ despite ‘desperately disappointing performance’ against Harlequins
Stormers director of rugby John Dobson (inset) and his players, Imad Khan, Damian Willemse and Wandile Mlaba in action against Harlequins.
Stormers boss John Dobson could not hide his disappointment after his team’s excellent start to the 2025/26 season was ruined against Harlequins on Sunday.
Harlequins were full value for their 61-10 triumph at Twickenham Stoop as they held the upper hand for long periods and eventually outscored the men from the Cape by nine tries to two.
The Stormers came into that fixture on a 10-match winning streak after winning all eight of their United Rugby Championship games as well as their two previous Champions Cup fixtures against Bayonne and La Rochelle.
However, Dobson opted to rest most of his first-choice players for the Harlequins clash and although the PREM Rugby outfit have been struggling in their domestic competition recently, they delivered a dominant performance against the Stormers and held a comfortable 33-0 lead at half-time.
‘A desperately disappointing performance’
“In terms of the process and outcome, it was a desperately disappointing performance,” said the Stormers’ director of rugby after the loss.
“Even though we left some players in Cape Town, I still thought we had a team that would compete better and get a point out of the game at least.
“We didn’t really come close. So that is disappointing. We (have) had some good results on the road this year.
“However, Harlequins clicked and they were desperate. But that is not an excuse. We were beaten at the breakdown, and defensively, we were not up to our standard.
“We probably also did not stick to our plan of what we wanted to do on the attack.”
That result means Harlequins move above the Stormers into second position in Pool Three of the Champions Cup and they have also booked their spot in the tournament’s round-of-16 alongside Leinster, who are sitting pretty at the top of that group.
The Stormers will now focus on their final pool match against Leicester Tigers which will take place at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.
A victory for the home side will secure them a spot in the last 16 but they will also be hoping that Harlequins lose against La Rochelle in their clash at the Stade Marcel Deflandre on Sunday.
If the Stormers clinch a bonus-point victory over Leicester and Quins lose against La Rochelle, then the men from the Cape will be secured of a home round-of-16 clash.
Preparing for ‘a massive game’ against Leicester Tigers
“We now look forward to what should be a massive game, almost now a knock-out game, at Cape Town Stadium at the weekend,” said Dobson.
“It is against one of the giants of Europe so it goes without saying that we will have to be much better than we were today.”
Although the Stormers will be back to full strength against the Tigers and have home ground advantage, Dobson is preparing for a tough assignment against Geoff Parling’s troops.
“Leicester now becomes a very big game. They beat Saracens last week. And they thrashed Bayonne yesterday (Saturday). (But) our future is still in our hands in this competition,” he added.
“All things going to plan we should host a home play-off.”
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