Stormers coach John Dobson believes his team can expose weaknesses in Leinster’s highly structured game during Saturday’s Vodacom URC semi-final at the Aviva Stadium. LINDIZ VAN ZILLA reports.
The defending champions are heavy favourites, but Dobson insists the Stormers have arrived in Dublin with genuine belief.
“We’ve gone from being desperate not to lose last week [against Cardiff] because that would have made what we think has been a really good season fall flat,” said Dobson. “Now there’s a real determination and conviction that we can and must win this game.”
He pointed to lessons to be learned from Leinster’s recent clashes against both Bordeaux Bègles in the Investec Champions Cup final and the Lions in the URC as to how to break down one of the most structured teams in club rugby.
“Leinster are a machine. They’re incredibly organised,” Dobson said. “The question is how you put them under pressure and how you break down that machinery.
“Bordeaux showed a template. It’s about dealing with their line speed, their phase-play game and finding ways to disrupt their rhythm.”
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A key figure in that plan will be centre Dan du Plessis, who had been under an injury cloud ahead of the semi-final but declared fit to play.
“What Dan did last week was exceptional defensively,” said Dobson of the quarter-final win over Cardiff.
“A lot of it goes unseen, but Leinster’s attack is sophisticated with short passes, forwards carrying in pods and those passes behind the back. Dan is vital for us in that area.”
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Dobson admitted there had also been a strong temptation to move fullback Damian Willemse to the wing to maximise his aerial dominance against Leinster’s kicking game.
“It was very much a consideration and it could still happen during the game,” he said.
“He’s so good in the air and it’s going to be a massive part of this game. We know [Leinster scrumhalf Jamison] Gibson-Park and it [contestable kicking] is also a massive part of our attacking game now and winning those scraps. Damian is so good there.
“But he was brilliant [against Cardiff], wasn’t he? I thought that was a world-class performance at 15 so that made it [moving him] a bit trickier. ”
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Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images
The post Stormers look to break down Leinster ‘machinery’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Stormers coach John Dobson believes his team can expose weaknesses in Leinster’s highly structured game during Saturday’s Vodacom URC semi-final at the Aviva Stadium.
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