When they walked down the tunnel at Parc Y Scarlets and saw the South African Shield on display, it all got very real for the DHL Stormers ahead of their final Vodacom United Rugby Championship league game.
Given where they started in the competition, with low expectations and the media focusing on the longstanding problems with the Western Province bosses that led the union being put in administration by SA Rugby, the chance to win some silverware had become massive for the Cape team.
Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White might have been slightly sarcastic when after his team’s defeat in Cape Town in April, he spoke of how important it was for the Stormers to win the Shield as “you haven’t won a trophy for a long time.” But, while the Shield is far from the main goal, what White said was nonetheless true. Getting the feel of silverware again is a good building block for future success.
So, the last league game against the Scarlets, where the Stormers needed a minimum of two log points, did shape up as a kind of final. And that pressure should hold the team in good stead for the playoffs, particularly considering the way they won it, with the victory being clinched with a try from the last play of the game.
FELT LIKE A PLAYOFF
“It did feel like a playoff to us. Before the game we were walking through the tunnel and saw the two Shields on display and our technical analyst Human Kriek said ‘Suddenly it has gotten very real’,” said Dobson after his team’s 26-21 win that also propelled them into second position on the final log.
“We haven’t played for a trophy for a long time, so there was a lot of pressure. It was a difficult game and it was high pressured throughout, and it took us a long time to get on top of the Scarlets, who were very good, but I felt we started to get the upper hand towards the end of the first half and then into the second half.”
Both Dobson and the Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff agreed that while the job is not done yet, winning the Shield was a huge achievement and something to celebrate given where the Stormers have come from.
“To after a campaign of 18 games to come out as the best team in SA at this level means a lot,” said the Stormers coach.“We’ve been in the media for a long time for all the wrong reasons, and everyone knows the problems there have been, but some remarkable people, such as Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Damian Willemse and others have remained loyal to us so it is fitting that they get rewarded in this way. It is good payback for them.
“I am not speaking for the sake of it, but it means a lot to us. There was a great vibe in the changeroom after the game, but there is no sense of it being job done. We have some play-off games to prepare for when we get home.”
CAPTAIN'S DELIGHT
Kitshoff, who of course had a feel of what it is like to win the most prestigious rugby trophy of all in Yokohama in 2019, made no secret of his delight at lifting silverware after the tough times Cape rugby has been through but at the same time he said he and the players were keeping their feet firmly rooted to the ground.
“I think winning the Shield was the first step. This was about cementing ourselves and building on the season we have been having, we needed something like this particularly after our winning home stretch and the momentum we got during that period,” said Kitshoff.
“To get a taste of silverware was absolutely amazing. You could feel the buzz in the changeroom after the game. The guys have really sacrificed a lot and done loads of work to get us to where we are now. But the job is not finished and this game was a glimpse of playoff rugby and what it will be like. We know we need to improve but we have some golden opportunities ahead of us.”
They do indeed, and Kitshoff, speaking before the Leinster/Munster game that confirmed the Stormers’ second place finish and easier path to the final, is determined to not let the opportunity presented to go all the way to the final slip from his team’s grasp.
“I think we will celebrate tonight and then park it on Monday and focus on playoffs as we still have a job to do. We will have a couple of beers and then focus on the quarterfinal and hopefully other knock-out games,” he said.
“If all goes to plan, we will return home to play two play-off games and then come back here (to the northern hemisphere) to play a final. That is the plan. But we know play-off rugby is tough. Anything can happen in a knock-out game.
Something can go against you, you can make a mistake and concede three points you shouldn’t have, and even if you lose by just one point you are out of the competition.”
GOOD PREPARATION FOR WHAT LIES AHEAD
Kitshoff agreed though that the pressure his team faced and the way they handled it, coming from an early deficit to win it at the death, was good preparation for what lies ahead.
"Scarlets played really well and they put us under a lot of pressure and their scrummaging and mauling was top notch. We made a hell of a lot of errors such as kicking into touch and losing ball in the breakdown. The crowd was firmly behind Scarlets and we did well to win in the circumstances.
“We showed a lot of composure in the last 10 minutes. We were hitting and hitting and trying to get the dam wall to break and eventually it did. But full credit to Scarlets as they really played well and are a quality outfit.”
The Stormers play Edinburgh in their quarterfinal on the weekend of 4 June, and will be emboldened by the knowledge that in the draw against that team in Scotland last September they were unlucky not to win. However, Dobson and Kitshoff were in agreement that improvements are necessary if the Stormers are going to go all the way to the final.
“I thought we were a bit unlucky at scrum time late in the game but I wasn’t that stressed at that point as we knew a draw would be enough (to win the Shield). But I think Steven will agree with me it was far from our best performance,” said Dobson.
“We made a lot of mistakes. We struggled with our maul defence and we also kicked too many kicks directly out. We had four kicks directly into touch and that prevented us getting momentum and also released pressure on our opponents. We kicked poorly but it was great to win the Shield!”