Stormers smarting from double blow as attention turns to Cardiff
· Citizen
The Stormers are smarting from a double blow over the past weekend, and now head into a vitally important final United Rugby Championship (URC) pool match against Cardiff in Wales, needing to win to stand any chance of finishing top of the log.
Their 38-all draw against Ulster this past Friday dropped the Stormers from first two second, as Glasgow Warriors’ bonus point win over Cardiff lifted them up to 60 points, one ahead of the Cape side heading to the final pool round.
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The Stormers will also head into the coming match without a key veteran in Deon Fourie, who was captaining the team against Ulster, but went off early in the game after a dangerous croc-roll by lock Iain Henderson, who received a 20-minute red card for his indiscretion.
After the match Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson explained that Fourie had suffered medial ligament damage, and with the 39-year-old having suffered a number of serious injuries over the past few years, this could effectively end his career.
“I feel very sorry for Deon Fourie. That type of action has to be removed from the game. No player can survive that. If we don’t take that out, there’s no room for turnovers and the game becomes like rugby league,” said Dobson.
“I don’t think the player meant to injure him deliberately, and I think the referee probably got it right. But it’s a big blow for us, especially with the form Deon’s been in.”
Frustration
Speaking about the Ulster performance, Dobson explained his frustration that them missing out on a win that could have kept them top, despite them needing a penalty try at the death to sneak in for the draw.
“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,” explained Dobson.
“There were four clear moments (that cost us). 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, (especially) the scrambling defence, but we fell off at times. And our discipline was very disappointing, which put us under pressure.”
The Stormers now head into their final pool match against Cardiff at Arms Park on Friday night knowing that a bonus point win will likely be needed to give them a shot at top spot.
Glasgow travel to Galway to take on Ulster on the same evening and will be going all out for a full house of points that will take them into the knockouts with full home ground advantage.