John Dobson Stormers head coach

Stormers head coach John Dobson. Photo: Getty Images.

Beaten Stormers missed poacher Fourie ‘a hell of a lot’

John Dobson has unpacked the Stormers’ Champions Cup to Exete Chiefs, admitting the absence of Deon Fourie played a huge role in the result.

John Dobson Stormers head coach

Stormers head coach John Dobson. Photo: Getty Images.

John Dobson has unpacked the Stormers’ defeat to the Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup, admitting that the injury-enforced absence of Deon Fourie played a huge role in the result.

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The Exeter Chiefs battered the Stormers at Sandy Park to claim a resounding 42-17 win and progress to the Champions Cup semi-finals.

But while the result is a fair reflection of the performances what both teams put out on the day, there were several external factors that played a significant role in the Stormers’ downfall. The Cape side only one one training session in England due to their now well-document travel difficulties, while they were also with their primary breakdown poacher Deon Fourie.

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WHERE THE GAME WAS LOST FOR THE STORMERS

Fourie is facing a stint on the sidelines after suffering an eye socket fracture against Harlequins last week, and according to Dobson that was the missing link in their disjointed performance and not any of the travel problems the Stormers had.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but in those first 20 minutes we were making too many single tackles, we weren’t making steals and the ball they were getting was too fast. That spirals and that’s certainly where we missed Deon,” Dobson said. “There were a couple of steal opportunities, he would have called an extra cleaner in or slowed the ball down.”

“We did miss him a hell of a lot. I didn’t expect it to be quite like it was. Credit to Exeter for how they played, but we did miss him and Nama Xaba, out and out stealers.”

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“What worried me a bit in that first half was that we weren’t folding on defence like we should have been. We looked flat. I thought we handled the cards we were dealt in terms of travel as best we could. We did everything we could. We travelled in three or four different parties and got in late on Wednesday,” the Stormers boss added.

“I just think Exeter were so sublime. It was a performance of yore, when they were European champions. I can’t really extrapolate that onto the travel.

“We want to be in this competition. It is two of the last three weeks where we have really kicked poorly in windy conditions. That has more of an influence on the outcome than the travel, without question.”

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DEON FOURIE WILL BE OUT OF ACTION FOR WEEKS

Stormers star player Deon Fourie ruled out with injury
Stormers star player Deon Fourie was ruled out due to injury. Photo: EPCR.