Stormers head coach John Dobson was left frustrated after his team did not stick to their second-half gameplan to attack more directly in the heavy loss to the Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.

After going into the break just one point behind their opponents, the Stormers conceded three second-half tries to fall to a 37-19 loss in their first Vodacom United Rugby Championship game at home.

The Stormers dominated territory and possession for most of the game, but struggled to break down a determined and well organised Lions defence.

Speaking after the match, Dobson said both he and captain Salmaan Moerat made it clear they wanted to be more direct in their approach in the second half, but the team did not stick to the plan.

“I don’t think we played the right game. I have never seen that in my coaching career, the number of opportunities that were unconverted. We were definitely far too lateral. The wind was quite seismic and we were going for bridge passes.

“Our message at half-time was clear. I said it and Salmaan said it. But then within two minutes of the second half, we knocked on twice throwing long passes and gave away a penalty. We were very poor in how we didn’t stick to our plan. Discipline is not only in our behaviour with the referee, but also in how we stick to our plan. Maybe we didn’t get the message across strongly or directly enough.”

Dobson said he felt that his team had lost the momentum that they built on the four-week tour of Europe, due to the fact that they were not able to play last weekend.

“I think it affected all of the teams. It was a week too long in terms of a break, but through no control. We are just grateful that we did play. I think it would have been much worse going forward if we hadn’t.

“In both the South African derbies in the past two days, we saw a certain lack of flow and rhythm, us epitomising it the most out of everybody, unfortunately.  All four teams were in the same position. I think all the teams got better on tour but we lost a bit of momentum. With the exception of the Sharks, but the Sharks were a very different team on tour.”

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