John Dobson admitted the Stormers were outplayed by a more desperate Cardiff side after Friday night’s 22-16 Vodacom URC defeat at the Arms Park.
The loss is likely to cost the Cape side a top-two finish and the chance to host a potential semi-final.
Dobson cut a frustrated figure after the match and conceded his team failed to match Cardiff’s intensity in a contest the Welsh side simply wanted more.
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“A very disappointing performance,” Dobson said.
“We give Cardiff all the credit they deserve – they were desperate – and I’m sorry that their desperation meant more to them than our chance to host a series of playoffs in Cape Town.
“I thought their attack and defence was very good. They put us under pressure defensively, got yards on us, very clever attack, and they were just really desperate.”
The Stormers enjoyed long periods of dominance, particularly in the set-pieces, but again failed to turn pressure into points.
It was a familiar theme after last week’s 38-38 draw against Ulster, where the Stormers also squandered several scoring opportunities.
“We had lots of areas of dominance and lots of opportunities that we probably wasted, very similar to last week,” Dobson said.
“Failure to convert when we were five metres out and the fact that we didn’t get a behaviour change there, is a problem for us.”
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Despite the setback, the Stormers remain in the top four and will host a quarter-final in Cape Town.
Dobson, however, warned that a major improvement will be needed if they are to mount a serious challenge for their second URC title.
“We’re going to have to regroup,” he said. “We know what’s in this group and we’ll regroup quickly.
“We’re a very bruised team who were beaten by the better team on the night and we’ll have to do much better than this in the quarter-final.”
Photo: Kian Abdullah/Gallo Images
