{"id":28926,"date":"2022-04-11T15:12:52","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T15:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/stormers-coach-dobson-chuffed-with-excellence-of-his-written-off-team"},"modified":"2022-04-11T15:58:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T15:58:46","slug":"stormers-coach-dobson-chuffed-with-excellence-of-his-written-off-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/stormers-coach-dobson-chuffed-with-excellence-of-his-written-off-team","title":{"rendered":"Stormers coach Dobson chuffed with excellence of his ‘written-off’ team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Stormers coach John Dobson said Heineken Champions Cup qualification for his once ‘written-off’ side is more than an attainable goal.<\/p>\n

With the Stormers narrowly, but deservedly beating the Bulls 19-17 in their United Rugby Championship clash at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, the Cape side has now moved one point clear at the top of the South African conference.<\/p>\n

Crucially, being in fifth-place means they qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup, a privilege reserved for the top seven teams in the 15-team group.<\/p>\n

URC Log Standings<\/b><\/p>\n

The Sharks are sixth behind the Stormers, which means if those sides win their remaining games, they’ve got every chance of controlling their qualification and playoff destinies.<\/p>\n

Dobson said he was chuffed that they’ve been able to look after themselves in this manner and also recognised the importance of being in the Heineken Champions Cup from a financial perspective.<\/p>\n

“I am pleased with where we are standing on the log, especially for a team that was written off and not highly thought off by our opponents,” Dobson said.<\/p>\n

“I think what we want to do as a reasonable goal is to win our conference and qualify for the Champions Cup.<\/p>\n

“What is critical is that we qualify for the Heineken Cup and that’s a more than a realistic goal for where we are now.<\/p>\n

We’re clawing back some respect for this union, so it’s important from a financial perspective that we play in the Heineken Cup.”<\/p>\n

Since losing 37-19 to the Lions at the end of last year, the Stormers have won eight out of their past 10 games.<\/p>\n

Stormers see off Bulls to cement top spot in SA’s URC conference<\/p>\n

That excellent sequence of results includes a double over the Bulls, an away win over the Lions, along with a draw and a win against the Sharks.<\/p>\n

The European teams, barring Ulster, were comprehensively manhandled, but Dobson said they’re still growing as a group.<\/p>\n

“To beat the Bulls home and away, a team that’s well-coached and well-drilled as they are, is a great achievement,” Dobson said.<\/p>\n

“We’re growing and we’ve gone a lot of hard work to get to where we are now and we don’t want to lose it now.<\/p>\n

“We don’t have any concerns with regards to losing momentum.”<\/p>\n

After this weekend’s bye, the Stormers host the Glasgow Warriors and Leinster on consecutive weekends before completing their round-robin stage at the Dragons.<\/p>\n

With Dobson welcoming back several players from various injury layoffs, Dobson is looking forward to those fixtures.<\/p>\n

“We could play next week because our injury roster is very good, but we have to play two teams that are above us on the log,” Dobson said.<\/p>\n

“Glasgow hasn’t been playing recently, so they will be preparing for us. It will be tough for us, but if we get that, we should be home and hosed.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want to go to the Scarlets needing to win, so physically we are good, but we just need to watch ourselves emotionally.”<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Stormers coach John Dobson said Heineken Champions Cup qualification for his once ‘written-off’ side is more than an attainable goal. With the Stormers narrowly, but deservedly beating the Bulls 19-17 in their United Rugby Championship clash at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, the Cape side has now moved one point clear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":28925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[274,315,505,279,835,587,275,798,604],"class_list":["post-28926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-bulls","tag-cape-town","tag-john-dobson","tag-rugby","tag-south-africa-2","tag-stormers","tag-united-rugby-championship"],"yoast_head":"\nStormers coach Dobson chuffed with excellence of his 'written-off' team - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stormers coach John Dobson said Heineken Champions Cup 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