Stormers head coach John Dobson praised his side after their stunning 32-28 win over Harlequins in the last-16 of the Champions Cup.
Dobson’s men played very well in front of their Cape Town fans and booked their spot in the quarter-finals against Montpellier or Exeter Chiefs.
The Capetonians led 32-7 with 10 minutes to play and left the door wide open for a late surge from Quins. However, outside of that the Stormers played a good game.
Superb Stormers
The coach was delighted with how his team played and singled out man of the match Deon Fourie and skipper Steven Kitshoff as influential stars, particularly at the breakdown.
“We were very good, absolutely superb,” Dobson said after the match. “Everything went according to our plan. A lot of people will talk about the last six minutes, but this Harlequins team has come back and beaten Bristol from 30 points down. They have beaten a lot of teams like that. The game was well won by then.
“Our plan was to defend very well, which we did. When I say we are happy with the performance, I don’t mean to say that we thrashed Harlequins. They are a good team, a really, really good team. They never go away, as we saw in those last few minutes.
“The way we defended, we wanted to put them under pressure at the halfbacks, put Marcus Smith under a little bit of pressure. I thought we slowed the ball down nicely. Deon [Fourie] and Kitsie [Steven Kitshoff] were both outstanding.
“We made a couple of mistakes in the back five minutes of the first half. We gave away some penalties and lost a set piece or two. We also got a bit loose in the middle of the second half. To be 32-7 up at around the 70th minute is pretty special, especially in our first Champions Cup knockout game against a team of that ability.”
Stick to DNA
Dobson insists that the Stormers did not consider changing their high-risk game plan just because it is a knock-out fixture and instead, the side stuck to their DNA.
“We spoke about it during the week. We are who we are, and how we play is actually perfect for this game, which needed massive defence and character. We also couldn’t say to Manie [Libbok] that he now has to play the territory because he is playing in a Champions Cup knockout game.
“That first try from Deon is exactly the kind of rugby that we want to play. It’s is underpinned by a massive work rate on defence. That’s how we want to be playing.”
One of the moments of the game saw fullback Damian Willemse soar through the air to score acrobatically in the corner, a try Harlequins boss Tabai Matson thought should not have been allowed.
🤤 Damian Willemse, what a finish!
📽️ Outstanding try from the Stormers.#HeinekenChampionsCup #STOvHAR https://t.co/W1Cl0vbAyn
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 1, 2023
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“I thought he was in touch,” said Matson. “Calls like that in big games matter, and clearly it made the scoreline widen. You want some calls to go your way and that one didn’t.”