By Gavin Rich.
DHL Stormers coach John Dobson had the kind of love for Connacht this past Friday night that might have suggested he was born in Galway, but that will change as the Cape team prepares for their second successive home Vodacom United Rugby Championship semifinal.
Dobson, and for that matter the Stormers skipper Steven Kitshoff, both admitted they were passionately behind Connacht when they shocked Ulster, who Kitshoff will link up with next season, in their quarterfinal at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.
That meant the Stormers were playing for a home semifinal when they played the Bulls in their quarterfinal, and Dobson admitted that it both upped the ante for his men in the big north/south derby and introduced more pressure as it meant there was more to lose. A lucrative home semi does mean so much more than an away trip to Ulster, which would have been the case had Ulster won, and it means the Stormers now have a great chance of making the final.
Fortunately for Dobson and Kitshoff, the Stormers have now matured to the point where they were able to comfortably to deal with the pressure that comes with third playing against sixth and against a derby opponent that was playing for redemption after a poor season that had seen them defeated twice in the URC by their arch-rivals.
They dominated the game from start to finish, were never less than 10 points ahead after the game went beyond the 16th minute, and there was no chance of the kind of choke that might have been anticipated from a Stormers team under that kind of pressure in a different era. The upshot was that the Stormers won 33-21, and frankly it should have been more such was their overall dominance, and more than 44 000 passionate fans were there to celebrate their advance into Saturday’s final.
The Stormers will play Connacht, who finished seventh on the final log to the Stormers’ third, in the first semifinal, kicking off at 4pm, with Leinster, who as anticipated were way too strong for the Cell C Sharks, winning 35-5 in the later quarterfinal on Saturday, playing Munster in the other semifinal at Aviva Stadium in Dublin at 6.30pm. Munster provided the second minor upset of the weekend when they won away to Glasgow Warriors, thus becoming the second team from outside of the top four to make the semis.
Fate conspired in their favour
Dobson was delighted after his team’s comprehensive win that fate had conspired in his team’s favour in terms of the Belfast result.
“We had a bit of a tough one with the Montpellier v Exeter game in the round of 16 in the Heineken Champions Cup with us being denied the right to host a quarterfinal by a technicality,””said Dobson.
“The Ulster result in the last weekend of the regular season knocked us down to third on points difference. We were hurt by our narrow defeat to Munster the last time we played at this stadium, but now, thanks to the Connacht result, that game doesn’t matter. We still get what we were aiming for, and it is nice to have one go in your favour. To be able to do this again next week is so special for us.”
It also means Kitshoff’s farewell game has been extended into two, and he admitted a lot of emotion was expended by him in watching the Connacht game.
“I hope this doesn’t get out (because he’s playing for Ulster next season) but I was cheering everything that Connacht did and I thought they played really well,” said Kitshoff.
“It is going to be great to have another game at home and another chance to make Cape Town smile. Today was special, playing in front of more than 40 000 people and doing what we did was awesome and we are looking forward to next week.”
Not taking Connacht lightly
While there is even more of a disparity in terms of log position than there was between the Stormers and the Bulls (third against sixth and third against seventh), Dobson made it clear that the Cape team would not be taking their opponents lightly even though he and his team liked the fact that they’d be playing opponents who have to travel from beyond the equator.
Dobson is expecting no favours from giant-slaying Ireland minnows Connacht, who stunned Ulster on Friday to present the Stormers with the opportunity to host the semi-final.
“We were chatting about Connacht a couple of weeks ago and it’s similar to what we say about ourselves. As Seabelo Senatla says, and I don’t know how to pronounce this accurately, they’ve got ‘dawg’ (dog) in them. And they have. They have mongrel. They’ve won seven in a row. And there is something worrying about them for opponents, the way they fight and their attacking shape is really good.
“Connacht has a great story. They come from a windy greyhound track in the far west and have the smallest budget in Ireland and yet have done something really special. They don’t go away and they will be tough opponents for us.”
Semifinals (both Saturday 13 May)
DHL Stormers v Connacht (DHL Stadium, Cape Town, 16.00)
Leinster v Munster (Aviva Stadium, Dublin, 18.30).