Frans Malherbe could soon be back in the Stormers’ pack. Picture: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency ANA
Cape Town - Stormers coach John Dobson says their handling errors are a big frustration at the moment.
Dobson addressed the issue following their 40-3 United Rugby Championship thumping of Cardiff - a match in which the Cape side ran in six tries, while the Welsh outfit could only manage a penalty in the seventh minute.
Last week, the Stormers scored nine tries against Zebre, and with a tally of 15 tries in two games, creating opportunities certainly isn't a problem.
Finishing and rounding off those chances, however, has been a bit of a thorn at times.
Against Cardiff on Sunday, the Stormers spilled a number of try-scoring opportunities with final passes just not sticking and an overall lack of patience on attack.
Speaking after the game, Dobson said: “For us to be direct it means to not force that last pass.
“When we got in behind them, the only way to let them back in is to make a handling mistake, so it is a frustration for us.
“This is a team that is desperate to play really attractive rugby. They feel the space and they can feel the guy and they want to make the offload and it looks great, but it is costing us some points. That was the major frustration for us.”
Of course, the mere fact that the Stormers are scoring so many tries and top ones at that - and their backline being more involved than we had seen in quite a while are huge positives on their own. But Dobson was quick to acknowledge that they will have to be more accurate against Ulster … and not just on attack.
The team from Belfast are currently second on the standings on 49 points, just one point behind log-leaders Leinster.
The Stormers are seventh on the standings with 34 points.
On what he thinks they have to work on before they face the Irish side at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday (3pm kickoff), Dobson underlined Ulster's physicality and how clinical they can be.
“They are a very big, physical and hard-carrying team,” he said.
“They are probably more direct than Cardiff and they are at the top of the URC. They beat Leinster in appalling conditions two weeks ago.
“We would need to be more accurate at the set-piece than we were. Maybe a guy like Frans (Malherbe) is back in the mix.
“We also need to be more accurate at the lineout and the maul. I don't think we were good there at all.
“I thought when Cardiff kicked contestables we were not necessarily as good around the ball as we should have been. Those areas where we were loose today are the areas that need to be sharpened up for next week.”