The Stormers must cut down on their error rate and make better decisions when they face a beefed-up Edinburgh side in Cape Town on Saturday, says coach John Dobson.
After an unconvincing 29-21 win over the Dragons last week, Dobson wants his team to make a big step up against the Scottish outfit in a United Rugby Championship (URC) clash at the Cape Town Stadium (kickoff 7pm).
Despite climbing to second on the URC log after their win, Dobson warned that hard work lay ahead of his side.
“We turned down a couple of easy three-pointers against the Dragons to go for the corner and got nothing out of it,” he said. “In fact, one of those decisions led to their entry. That was a big factor in the game.
“We wanted to replicate our efficiency against the Bulls, but we didn’t. The Stormers turned over far too much ball, especially in the second half when we were trying things from too far out.
“We tried to play a bit harder than we needed to. Instead of sticking to our processes, we went chasing the game and used the wrong method.”
Dobson gave the Dragons credit for their strong defensive effort in Cape Town.
“That’s probably the No 1 defence in the URC since January,” he said. “They’re physical; they disrupt you, and they made it very difficult for us.
“It will be a different Edinburgh on Saturday, and we’ll have to be much better than we were. Edinburgh are in the last-chance saloon and obviously with Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe and other guys available, they’ll beef up this week.
“They’ll be tough this week. I think in Edinburgh’s own mind, Ellis Park was an impossibility last week [when they lost 54-17], so it puts this game down as a big one for them.
“This is a six-day turnaround for us. We know as a collective we can and will be much better.”
Stormers captain Ruhan Nel said his team were guilty of poor decision-making against the Dragons.
“We did all the work to get into their 22, but then it’s a lapse of concentration or the wrong decision,” he said. “We probably had two or three clear chances where we should have scored.”
“The scrum bailed us out a few times when we were under pressure. It gave us penalties and a way to exit.”
“You could easily be fooled by the Dragons’ log position. They are currently in 12th position, and we were in the same boat last year and still made the quarterfinals.
“It’s a team that’s desperate and with nothing to lose as well. They are big boys, and we were under no illusion that they’re just going to roll over and give us five points.
“They did well to stop our mauls, but our scrums functioned really well.”
Weekend URC fixtures
Friday:
- Sharks v Cardiff.
Saturday:
- Bulls v Munster,
- Lions v Dragons,
- Stormers v Edinburgh.
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