Dobbo’s 5-star Stormers get the Golden Buzzer

If you have ever watched America or Britain’s got talent you will know about the golden buzzer moment. On Saturday night at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town one couldn’t but hit the buzzer long before the Stormers had completed their most complete performance of the season, writes Mark Keohane.

This was a collective, defensively, on attack and on the counter attack. This 56-5 demolition of Benetton was as close to the perfect 80 minutes as the Stormers have got in the history of the competition, and they have won some big games playing some amazing rugby. They have also won the first ever title.

Individuals will always get headlines: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Warwick Gelant, Evan Roos, Paul de Villiers, Salmaan Moerat and Andre-Hugo Venter were massive. The rest alternated between massive and very good: They are: Seabelo Senatla, Dan du Plessis,  Damian Willemse,  Leolin Zas, Stefan Ungerer, Marcel Theunissen, Ruben van Heerden, Sazi Sandi, Ali Vermaak, JJ Kotze, Vernon Matongo, Brok Harris, JD Schickerling, Connor Evans, Louw Nel, Herschel Jantjies and Suleiman Hartzenberg. For once all 23 as a squad demand the headline.

John Dobson, Director of Rugby and Head Coach, was emotional and furious this time a week ago. His team had beaten Connacht 34-29, scored five tries and secured five league points. But he hammered their attitude on defence, publicly, in his post-match interview.

Dobbo, as he is affectionally called, doesn’t lose it often. He tends to be more philosopher than psycho, but a week ago those eyes of his would have won a Hollywood audition alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins.

He was not happy!

Harsh words were spoken in the change room. The Stormers released the video of captain (Salmaan) Moerat speaking to the team, but Dobbo’s chat remained in the shed, where it belonged.

This was personal, for him, the players and the coaches. It was not good enough; not for a squad who wants to sit at the top table of world club rugby.

There was celebration for the win but there was also an acknowledgement that the Stormers don’t concede five tries at home at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town. Certainly not when Norman Laker is leading the defence.

Laker’s look a week ago was more of a man betrayed than of a man beaten. Laker doesn’t tolerate defensive imposters.

This week the message from Dobson was crass, but it had to be: ‘Pitch up of Piss Off’.’

The Stormers pitched up – and if they pitch up in this kind of mood, not even Leinster are guaranteed anything in the play-offs.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a generational talent. He does it all, and on Saturday night he produced the royal flush of points scoring: conversions, penalties, a try and a drop goal. Appreciate him. Give unconditional applause to the magician.

Inside of him, he had a pack of warriors who refused to conceded an inch, let alone a metre, in contact, at the breakdown and at the set piece. The line out was exceptional, the attack was explosive and dominant and the scrum was imposing when you consider the Stormers have lost three of the best props in the game in Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe and Neethling Fouche. And in the final minutes of Saturday night, it appears they have lost veteran Brok Harris.

They are a team that this season has often played without Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Willemse and Manie Libbok. Add the absence of veteran loose-forward and inspirational leader Deon Fourie and it makes this performance against Benetton so powerful.

Benetton are a bloody good side, started the match fifth on the table and had come off scoring 41 points against the Lions in Johannesburg.

They are loaded with Italian internationals and enjoy a strong foreign player presence.

They are no basement dwellers but the Stormers made them look like they were rooted to the foot of the league table.

Benetton simply were not allowed to function. They were battered in every facet of the game.

I was fortunate to get an insight into the mentality of the Stormers this week and confidently declared they would score 40 points. I wasn’t convinced they could be as potent defensively and had Benetton to get 27. Apologies Storming Norman. Your boys did you justice and they did you proud.

The Stormers fan base is without comparison in South Africa and top three in the league. Once again, more than 20 000 tickets were sold for a match on a long weekend – and Capetonians like to go away on a long weekend.

Just under 19 000 of those 20 000-plus made the effort to get to the DHL Stadium, but those who opted for the beach or the West Coast, or the Overberg, Stilbaai or Hermanus missed something pretty special. They won’t make that mistake in a fortnight (May 10th) when the Dragons visit.

Laker, on defence, Dawie Snyman on attack, Gareth Wright in the kicking intelligence, Rito Hlungwani and his forwards, Labeeb Levy, honing those player skills, Human Kriek’s technical analysis, Will Markwick, head of Athletic Development, Strength and Conditioning coach Riefaat Jappie, a medical team that never gets a headline in Dr Raaghib Fredericks, physios Wernich Smith and Inge Croy, and – of course – the master manager Chippie Solomon. They all combined in response to Dobbo’s demand for intensity.

‘I can always accept getting beaten if the opposition, over 80 minutes, was better as a rugby team,’ Dobson told me earlier this week. ‘But as a supporter of this great club, I will never accept a lack of fight and intensity in defence. That is me the supporter. Me the coach is even more incredulous. The message to the players was simple. Give the people the fight they would give for you.’

Dobson’s eyes on Saturday evening would have been filled with love more than fury, but to quote former Stormers and Springbok winger Breyton Paulse on SuperSport: ‘Dobbo needs to get angry more often.’

Amen.

This was a collective, in which no one individual could have succeeded without the help of another.

Rugby is special in this city and this province.

On nights like Saturday, everything that is so seductive about #CapeTown, rugby in this city and the Stormers comes together in an 80 minute performance. Those nights, rampant in their revelry, on and off the field, are rare.

Appreciate them. Appreciate this squad. Appreciate what you just witnessed.

Smile Cape Town. Smile. 

SA Rugby Magazine’s match overview

Photo: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images