John Dobson has said sorry to Stormers fans for his team’s recent form, after a hat-trick of Vodacom URC losses.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 28: End of the match moments as the Lions win during the United Rugby Championship match between Lions and DHL Stormers at Ellis Park on February 28, 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images)
The latest blow for the Cape side was a 24-10 defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday, which sees them slide down the URC table even further.
Dobson lamented a performance riddled with errors, missed chances and fading composure.
Very disappointing result for us,” Dobson said post-match. “Some of the stuff we looked at from Durban we sort of got right, but we simply made far too many mistakes. In the first half, we turned over nine balls in contact, and we kept doing that unfortunately.”
Those errors proved fatal. The Lions struck twice in the first half through Siba Mahashe and Henco van Wyk, and although the Stormers showed flashes of life after the break, they never truly looked in control.
Even when the Lions were reduced to 13 men late in the game, the Stormers failed to capitalise.
Despite the start, I thought we had enough time, especially when they were down to 13, to turn the game. But we just didn’t show any composure whatsoever,” Dobson admitted.
“Even in the dying minutes, two passes went out from the hands into touch when we were chasing the bonus point. Held up three times over the line.”
There were moments that summed up the frustration – a disallowed maul try, Simelane and André-Hugo Venter held up, and a string of near-misses.
“There were also a few calls we could’ve argued, maybe some of those things could’ve been interpreted differently. The truth is, we didn’t deserve to win it.”
Dobson did point to “some promising scrumming signs”, but conceded the maul defence and discipline need urgent attention.
“Three defeats in a row is not good for us. I still think we showed signs of being a reasonable team that will be back.
“We would like to apologise to our supporters for this run of results. Very disappointed to have not come away with a few points from that game.”
