John Dobson says a yellow card and impatience hurt the Stormers, but a sharper second half saw them past Edinburgh.
The visitors held the Stormers to 7-7 at half-time at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night and briefly led 14-12, before the home side pulled away in the final quarter to win 33-14.
“We were a bit impatient,” Dobson said, lamenting a number of entries into the opposition 22 followed by wrong option-taking. The coach highlighted the fact that his side ranked second for entries into the opposition 22, but 13th for their conversion rate, “which is a massive discrepancy”.
REPORT: Stormers finish strong to see off Edinburgh
After No 8 Evan Roos scored his first try, the Stormers gave Edinburgh a way back when Roos’ pass was intercepted by centre James Lang who sprinted the length of the field.
“We got the breakdown three yards from their line and we went for a long Hail Mary pass where we clearly should have gone into the pick-and-go shape like we used towards the end of the match,” Dobson said. “And that was a 14-point turnaround.
“It was a bit frustrating not to have had a bigger half-time lead, especially with the intercept, but towards the end [of the match] we were well on top. For me, very much job done.”
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Captain Ruhan Nel added: “We did all the hard work to get into the 22, then took an option that wasn’t on. That’s frustrating because it lets teams off the hook.”
Discipline also proved an issue, with prop Ntuthuko Mchunu’s yellow card for deliberately slapping the ball down putting the hosts under pressure early on.
“You can’t forgive that,” Dobson said. “That 10-minute period changes how you play and puts you under pressure.”
However, the coach credited his side for sticking to a strong kicking game to see off Edinburgh’s challenge, saying the match was exactly the kind of arm-wrestle he had anticipated.
“I would have preferred it not to have been, but this is the reality,” he said. “Let’s call it the conditions. Night games here at this time of year feel like the northern hemisphere.
“We had a plan, with Damian [Willemse] on the wing – and I thought we won the scraps and the kicking contest. That was very pleasing.”
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Nel highlighted the importance of sticking to the process despite the scoreboard pressure.
“At 14-7 or 14-12, you can easily change your tactics or become impatient,” he said. “But we did really well to stick to the plan. We kept putting the ball up, kept winning the scraps, and the opportunities came from that.”
“One of the big messages at half-time was just to stick to the process,” added Dobson. “I thought the contestable kicking and the work around that was one of our better performances.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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