­
  • Home
  • Match Centre
  • Vodacom URC
  • Videos
  • Cars
    • Cheap cars for sale
    • Used Cars For Sale
    • New Cars For Sale
    • Demo Cars For Sale
  • Deals
    • One Day Deals
    • Nationwide Deals
      • Deals in Cape Town
      • Deals in Johannesburg
      • Deals in Durban
      • Deals in Pretoria
      • Deals in Port Elizabeth
    • Accommodation Deals
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Food and Drink Deals
    • Experiences
    • Health and Wellness Deals
    • Beauty and Spa Deals
  • BLACKOUT RUGBY MANAGER

SA Rugby magazine

South African rugby news, interviews, videos and more. Covering the Springboks, Bulls, Stormers, Sharks, Cheetahs and Lions, as well as schools and club rugby.

Primary Menu Search
  • Home
  • Match Centre
  • Vodacom URC
  • Videos
  • Cars
    • Cheap cars for sale
    • Used Cars For Sale
    • New Cars For Sale
    • Demo Cars For Sale
  • Deals
    • One Day Deals
    • Nationwide Deals
      • Deals in Cape Town
      • Deals in Johannesburg
      • Deals in Durban
      • Deals in Pretoria
      • Deals in Port Elizabeth
    • Accommodation Deals
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Food and Drink Deals
    • Experiences
    • Health and Wellness Deals
    • Beauty and Spa Deals
  • BLACKOUT RUGBY MANAGER
You are here: Home ∼ Dobbo’s Diary: Hard lessons in Clermont

Dobbo’s Diary: Hard lessons in Clermont

Stormers coach John Dobson Dobbo's Diary: Hard lessons in Clermont
Published on December 15, 2022

Coach John Dobson is eager to see how the “hurting” DHL Stormers respond to the challenge of hosting London Irish in their Champions Cup home debut on Saturday.

PLUS: Davids the latest Blitzbok to shine for Stormers

Losing hurts but it is a lot easier to take a lesson when you are hurting. Often there are few lessons taken on board when somehow you win in a match you all know you could have lost because the performance was not up to standard.

The DHL Stormers are hurting from the Heineken Champions Cup defeat against Clermont, as players, coaches and support staff. We are hurting because the performance in the second half wasn’t good enough to win – and the one thing we pride ourselves on is effort, and the effort was the antithesis of everything we believe in as a squad.

The biggest lesson to bring back from France was a reminder of just how strong we are when we are singularly focused and anchored as to the power of the collective when it comes to defining the DHL Stormers.

Some would and could say I am being too harsh on us and say it was no rugby crime to lose 24-14 away to Clermont, a team that at home, before our match, had only lost three from 35 European competition matches.

I wrote last week we could become another historical statistic, or we could be part of the history makers. We returned home as a statistic, adding to their incredible home record.

I heard some saying it was always going to be difficult integrating international players back into the system, with them having been away for a month. If you want to find a comforting excuse, I guess anyone can.

I have also heard some tell me to relax, it is the norm to lose away from home in the group stages of European competitions, but for me to even entertain such thoughts would be a cop-out and I’d be doing a disservice to everything I speak about to you all every week.

We are a squad that prides itself on honesty and on transparency. These are the qualities that have made us so difficult to beat, regardless of where we play our matches at the DHL Stadium, in South Africa and overseas.

It hurts to lose, but a part of me will always accept it if beaten by a better team or an opponent that on the day simply played better. What we as a team can never do is lose ourselves or lose each other in the context of battle. That is unacceptable. We can’t individually stray from the game plan, drift in and out of the contest and not expect difficulties.

Unity is a collective and it is this unity in everything we do against London Irish that will be paramount to success on Saturday.

It is an education balancing squads to play in different competitions concurrently, but our players and our rugby will be better for the pressure that comes with these demands.

It is our unity as a squad that gives me confidence each time we play, and it is this unity, in effort, in appreciation of each one’s role and in dedication to each physical act, be it a tackle, the pre-empting of the possibility of a cover tackle, clean-out or a dominant collision, that gives us on-field presence and winning results.

Equally, it is playing with intelligence and with the respect to the rest of the team that every individual act has a knock-on effect to the team collective.

There were big lessons in the indifference of our second half performance in Clermont, but we are privileged as a squad to one week later exorcise the demons that contributed to defeat.

Our aim is to win, but the bigger picture is to deliver a performance befitting of a DHL Stormers squad who in the past 18 months have always been able to comfortably eyeball each other afterwards knowing that they’d given everything for each other and for their incredible support base. It has always made the post-match embrace so enjoyable.

December rugby is different and summer rugby is different, but it is the new norm.

Every weekend we are learning something new, about the competition and about ourselves.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at the DHL Stadium on Saturday and I hope we can give you a performance – in effort – that matches your effort in every sacrifice you make to get to the stadium to be our extra on-field player.

Be safe.

Much love

Dobbo

MORE: Summer of rugby awaits SA fans

Picks – @mark_keohane and Zels both predict the DHL Stormers to get back to winning ways when they face London Irish in the Champions Cup. pic.twitter.com/sm5Jgbpgqv

— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) December 15, 2022

Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix

Posted in Champions Cup, Stormers, Top headlines Tagged Champions Cup, Stormers

Post by Devin Hermanus

Devin Hermanus

Check out Blackout Rugby Manager HERE!

← Previous Next →

Sevens’ party falls flat

World Rugby shouldn’t have messed with a winning sevens formula, writes SIMON...

Draining format clogs Blitzboks’ blockage

A protracted schedule took the wind out of South Africa's sails at...

England cut Eddie, Razor to stop the bleeding

England have made the rash decision to part ways with coach Eddie...

Rassie ref hom in die rooi

Rassie Erasmus is hardly the embarrassment that some are making him out...

Cut and paste Kurt-Lee for Kolbe

Kurt-Lee Arendse ticks all the right boxes to replace the injured Cheslin...

Rassie auditions for England job

Rassie Erasmus has made the most calculated of public job applications to...

Boks need to make mentality adjustment

The Springboks need to lose their underdog mentality, writes SIMNIKIWE XABANISA in...

Kolbe’s worth every penny

Cheslin Kolbe’s big-money move to Toulon should be welcomed as a massive...

‘Bok gameplan, when executed correctly, is hard to match’

The opportunity to play against the All Blacks is a career highlight...

Five key areas the Boks need to dominate for first victory

SA Rugby magazine highlights five crucial areas the Boks will need to...

Top six: Best and worst foreign imports

SARugbymag.co.za identifies six of the best and worst foreign players to play...

Column: When context is needed

As highlighted by the Argentina controversy, ‘cancel culture’ needs a spoonful of...

Dark cloud hangs over WP Rugby

The problems at Western Province Rugby are layered, and everyone involved needs...

From the mag: Foreign Favourites

As Vodacom Super Rugby turned 25 this year, JON CARDINELLI picks an...

Bulls rookies to watch

After a massive exodus of players the Vodacom Bulls will be eager...

Analysis: The new suffocate-and-strangle game

For the Boks to emerge as World Cup winners, they need to...

VIEW MORE
  • Bonus-point Bulls douse Dragons
  • Munster maul luckless Lions
  • Stormers sign off 2022 in style
  • Sharks carve Bulls on New Year’s Eve

Jacques Burger’s Perfect XV

    BKT United Rugby Championship, Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland 8/1/2023 Glasgow Warriors vs DHL Stormers Stormers' Damian Willemse Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Craig Watson
  • Highlights: Heartbreak for Stormers in Glasgow thriller

###


COVID-19 Corona Virus
South African Resource Portal

African Insider
African Insider News

ABOUT

  • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Videos
  • Player Features
  • Subscribe
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy Policy

TOURNAMENTS

    • Rugby Championship
    • Super Rugby
    • Currie Cup
    • Varsity Cup
    • Gold Cup
    • Schools
    • Six Nations
    • Champions Cup
    • World Cup
    • Challenge Cup

OPINION

  • Mallett on SuperSport
  • Cardinelli column
  • Lewis column
  • Xabanisa column
  • Borchardt column
  • Superbru

Primary Menu

  • Home
  • Match Centre
  • Vodacom URC
  • Videos
  • Cars
    • Cheap cars for sale
    • Used Cars For Sale
    • New Cars For Sale
    • Demo Cars For Sale
  • Deals
    • One Day Deals
    • Nationwide Deals
      • Deals in Cape Town
      • Deals in Johannesburg
      • Deals in Durban
      • Deals in Pretoria
      • Deals in Port Elizabeth
    • Accommodation Deals
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Food and Drink Deals
    • Experiences
    • Health and Wellness Deals
    • Beauty and Spa Deals
  • BLACKOUT RUGBY MANAGER