DHL Stormers coach John Dobson and his captain Ruhan Nel didn’t bring a sackcloth and ashes disposition into the DHL Stadium post-match press conference, but they both admitted they had some regrets about not taking the opportunity to make history against the All Blacks.
The New Zealand touring team opened their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour with what could best be described as a scratchy 38-21 win in front of a crowd of 47 000, and the 17 point winning margin flattered the visitors, who were in danger of suffering the embarrassment of defeat when the scores were deadlocked at 14-all with 12 minutes to go.
However, that was the point where the referee Karl Dickson awarded a very dubious penalty against the Stormers at a scrum where the home team pushed the All Blacks off the ball, and from there the All Blacks launched the attack that eventually saw Rieko Ioane dotting down in the right corner to regain a lead the tourists had lost to a Seabelo Senatla try in the 55th minute.
There are severe sanctions for criticising the referee so Dob the teamason made a big attempt to be even minded in what he said, but he didn’t leave too much doubt about how he felt.
“It was frustrating. The refereeing team was top quality, but the boys involved with the scrum like Brok Harris are wearing it in the change-room right now and it was a big moment of the game,” said Dobson.
Indeed it was. The Stormers were playing out of season, after just three weeks of training, and it was inevitable that if the All Blacks got ahead and doused some of the home team’s passion late in the game they would be the ones that finished with energy. And that is exactly what happened. They scored four tries in 12 minutes, and changed the earlier narrative of the game by dominating the Stormers scrum at the last put in.
At that point though the Stormers had called on the young rookie tighthead Herman Lubbe, who was in the squad as a replacement for the injured Sazi Sandi, and that kind of summed up why the Stormers, even though they lost, weren’t in the mood to be completely disappointed.
“I can’t fault anything about the team and it was a remarkable effort. There is enormous pride in the change room,” said Dobson.
“We trained for just three weeks and that first contact was the first bit of contact (in a match) since Dublin (the URC semifinal against Leinster on 6 June). For 65 minutes we went toe to toe with them. We knew beforehand, and we spoke about it, that our heads would ring a bit in the first five for 10 minutes, and the All Blacks really made the ball fizz in that period. But I am super proud of the guys and we felt we did the occasion justice.”
They did indeed if you consider the names missing because of Springbok duty - Damian Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Ben-Jason Dixon, Paul de Villiers, Siya Kolisi, Wilco Louw and Zachary Porthen. Plus the ace lock JD Schickerling was out because of injury, and there were others such as Marcel Theunissen and Jurie Matthee also missing.
But the players who came in stepped into the breach superbly, none more so than the 20 year old debutant flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, who Dobson has admitted has progressed and matured much quicker than he thought he would and he praised the No 10, who was still a scholar at Wynberg a year ago, for his composure in the massive occasion of a game against the All Blacks.
“The guy’s got real big match temperament and afterwards he was sitting in the change room swapping jerseys with Beauden Barrett. And that’s the beauty of this sort of occasion.”
It is indeed, but both Dobson and skipper Nel admitted that in among the pride of having been so competitive when many were predicting a big win for the All Blacks, they also conceded that there was a tinge of regret at not grabbing the opportunities that presented themselves.
“For a long time we dared to dream and it was possible for us to join the ranks of the teams that have beaten a touring All Black team, and we do feel there was an opportunity missed,” said Dobson.
“We came so close on a few occasions (when the scores were locked at 14-all) and if we had taken the lead then we might have been having a very different story to tell now,” said Dobson.
Nel, who came off with an injury shortly after halftime and was replaced by Wandisile Simelane, concurred with the director of rugby.
“No one actually gave us a chance before this. We read the media and the predictions of a big All Black win but we didn’t feel like that within the camp,” said the Stormers centre.
“Am I surprised by the result? No, I am not, it is the All Blacks. But there was an opportunity out there that was missed and moments we could have handled better. If we had handled it a bit better we could be sitting here singing a different song.”