‘We must fix it’: John Dobson rues missed chances as Stormers grind past Edinburgh

Stormers head coach John Dobson lamented his side’s impatience against Edinburgh on Saturday evening after it took them until late in the clash to put their visitors away.

While they claimed a 33-14 United Rugby Championship (URC) victory to remain second in the standings, they failed to capitalise on their dominance in the first half.

It took two tries around the 60th minute to finally pull clear of the Scottish visitors, but before that, the 20 000-plus supporters inside DHL Stadium would have been somewhat uneasy.

However, two spectacular tries ultimately sealed both the victory and the bonus point, keeping the Cape side in touch with the Glasgow Warriors, who currently sit top of the table.

“There is a lack of patience within the team,” director of rugby John Dobson said of his side’s inability to convert dominance into points.

“We talk about our 22m entries a lot, but we have to find solutions for that. Instead of throwing a skip pass and ending up tied 7-all rather than 14-0 ahead (after an intercept try), we could have looked for the pick-and-go with the forwards at that stage. From our first five entries, we scored zero points. It is something we must fix.

“I am pleased with the victory; however, we don’t really enjoy playing at this time (7pm) against Northern Hemisphere opposition in Cape Town. We get a lot of criticism, but we are second on the log and reasonably well-positioned, although we are also doing plenty wrong. 

“It was a bit frustrating not to have had a bigger lead at halftime, especially with the intercept, but towards the end we were well on top. It is very much a job done for me.” 

The Stormers will now assess their squad ahead of a European trip to France, where they will face Toulon in the Round of 16 of the Champions Cup. Dobson is expected to name a mixed side for the tour as they look to maintain their strong position in the URC.