Coach John Dobson and captain Deon Fourie said “character” was a key factor in the Stormers’ win over the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Stormers showed impressive resilience to fend off an early onslaught from the Bulls as the United Rugby Championship champions narrowly won 23-19 in front of a record crowd of 41,205 at Loftus Versfeld.
‘character’
In the all-time classic derby between north-south rivals, the visitors scored two tries and Manie Libbok kicked 13 points that included a drop goal in the 73rd minute, before the relentless pressure of the Bulls at the death met with the patient defense of Dobson’s soldiers.
The Stormers’ victory also snapped the Bulls’ 12-game winning streak at home, and speaking after the match, Dobson told reporters: “I’m very proud of the character shown by the team. We know the level of motivation and desperation for this game, and the first 20, 30 minutes it will be really difficult.
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“They dominated most of the half, and we conceded a lot of penalties.
“At 12-3 we were under the pump … But the way we stayed in the fight, took the lead at half-time, and then started the second half there was magic – and then the character behind it.
“It’s just about this team – what happened in the last 10 minutes – and I’m proud of them. We defended well… there was just a desperate need to defend to win.
‘Lekker wins like we do’
Fourie added: “With the crowd… I don’t think it was just 41,000 Bulls supporters, I think it was almost half, so thanks to those who came out…
“We talked about it all week, that the Bulls were going to get on the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes because they were playing in front of a big crowd.
“But I said, let’s get rid of the silly mistakes, stay on base and go into the half and when we get to 22, I tell the guys we’re going to get the points.
“It was quite stressful at the end, and it gave me a few more gray hairs! But lekker won as he did, and as Dobbo said, it shows the character of the team and I hope we can keep going.
ON Shield
The second-placed Stormers (54 points) are now 10 points ahead of Ulster in the overall URC table, and lead the Bulls by 13, which should be enough to clinch the race for the South African Shield.
The Stormers host the Sharks in Cape Town on March 4 when competition resumes after a week’s break.
Dobson said: “Next we have the Sharks game and if we get that right we’ll get a clean sweep of the local derby, which will be good for us.
“Maybe we need another win from the last four games to get the SA Shield, which I’m sure we’ll get, and that’s important for us.
“You want to be the best team in South Africa and we are very close, because of the results. If we can win the Shield two years in a row, it will be a big feather in the cap for this union and the team.
This story was first published by sarugbymag.co.za. It has been republished here with permission. For the original story click here.