John Dobson believes the Stormers are one key improvement away from becoming genuine title contenders again after a season that promised much, but ultimately ended in disappointment, writes MORNÉ ESBEN.
The Cape side stormed out of the blocks in the 2025-26 Vodacom URC, winning their opening eight matches and establishing themselves as early pace-setters.
However, an inconsistent middle stretch of the campaign proved costly. Home-and-away defeats to the Sharks, a loss to the Lions at Ellis Park and a rare setback against Connacht at Cape Town Stadium stunted the Stormers’ momentum and contributed heavily to them not securing a favourable playoff route.
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Although they earned a home quarter-final, they were forced to travel for the semi-finals, where eventual champions Leinster ended their campaign with a 20-11 victory in Dublin.
Reflecting on the season, Dobson identified attacking efficiency as an area requiring attention ahead of the new URC and Champions Cup campaigns.
“The big concern for us would be some elements on attack,” Dobson told SA Rugby Mag.
“I think our set-up and how to play off Sacha. Our outside backs – through form, injury – trying to get the attack system off Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] and Jurie [Matthee] right, is a challenge. They’re two very different tens.”
But it is one statistic in particular that has caught the Stormers coach’s attention.
“We were number two or three in the URC for 22-metre entries, which means you’re doing a lot right on attack and putting the opposition under pressure,” he explained.
“But we’re second last for points per entry. We fix that, we’d be top of the log by a distance. If we got closer towards three points per entry, we would have been the top team in the competition.”
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Dobson said the Stormers remain committed to a game built around set-piece pressure and attacking transition opportunities.
“We’re a transition team,” he said.
“A team that likes to put the opposition under pressure at set-piece – scrums, lineouts and mauls – and we want to get into transitions and score off transitions.”
The Stormers have also placed increased emphasis on contestable kicks, an area where Dobson believes the world’s leading teams are gaining a crucial edge.
“The contestables is another big one,” he said.
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“We’ve made a lot of progress with Steve Morris from the AFL who has been helping us, but you would’ve seen in the Six Nations where Antoine Dupont wins the scraps from the contestables, passes to Louis Bielle-Biarrey and it’s a try.
“That sort of transition is what we need to work on.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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John Dobson believes the Stormers are one key improvement away from becoming genuine title contenders again after a season that promised much but ultimately ended in disappointment.
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