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Stormers statement: New CEO and a new role for John Dobson

Stormers coach John Dobson (Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)

Last week’s takeover of Western Province Rugby by the Red Disa Consortium has resulted in the appointment of a new CEO and confirmation of an extended role for Stormers head coach John Dobson. It was last September when clubs in the region initially voted in favour of an equity deal that would take the province out of administration.

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The takeover process has now been complete and some leadership changes have been quickly implemented ahead of Saturday’s visit by Ulster to Cape Town to take on the Stormers in the URC.

A club website statement read: “The leadership structure at Western Province Rugby has been refreshed with the appointment of Johan le Roux as chief executive officer and John Dobson as director of rugby.

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John Dobson on the Stormers’ loosehead crisis

Stormers head coach John Dobson confirmed that his team will be in the market for a loosehead prop in the coming days.

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John Dobson on the Stormers’ loosehead crisis

Stormers head coach John Dobson confirmed that his team will be in the market for a loosehead prop in the coming days.

“Following the conclusion of the recent equity deal, which saw the Red Disa Consortium secure a controlling shareholding last week, there has been swift and decisive action taken to establish a new leadership team to take the company and the DHL Stormers forward.

“Le Roux, who is a major roleplayer in the Red Disa Consortium as head of Fynbos Ekwiteit, will fill the vacant position of CEO with immediate effect. He has already started working in earnest with Dobson and the new board to align the business with the aspirations of the team and their supporters.

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“The new CEO will also be assisted by seasoned administrator Rob Wagner, who has been brought in for an interim period to assist with operational aspects of the business and ensure that the execution of the core functions of the company are as effective as possible.

“Dobson’s new position as director of rugby will not change his role within the senior team, but rather see him apply his experience and insights across a wider scope, playing a more central role in contracting and the development of talent through the junior structures.”

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“This DHL Stormers team has the potential to be a global rugby powerhouse, given the talent in the region and unrivalled love for the game among its supporters,” said Le Roux. “We want to ensure that the business standards match that of the rugby programme and help propel the team to even greater heights.

“It is crucial that we run a sustainable model which will ensure our strength into the future and we have already made some fairly big steps in this regard in a short space of time. There is every reason to be excited about what the future holds for the DHL Stormers.”

Dobson added: “My love for this team and the rugby people in this region is well-documented and I will continue to put everything I can into making our rugby as strong as possible.

“As director of rugby, I will now be looking more broadly at the rugby environment in our organisation and planning for where we want to go, as well as overseeing the current squad and our mission to make Cape Town smile.”

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Tom 1 hour ago
England player ratings vs South Africa | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

That 2019 performance was literally the peak in attacking rugby under Eddie. If you thought that was underwhelming, the rest of it was garbage.


I totally get what you're saying and England don't need or have any God given right to the best coaches in the world... But I actually think the coaches we do have are quite poor and for the richest union in the world, that's not good enough. 


England are competitive for sure but with the talent pool up here and the funds available, we should be in the top 3. At the very least we should be winning six nations titles on a semi-regular basis. If Ireland can, England definitely should.


England's attack coach (Richard Wigglesworth) is Borthwick's mate from his playing days at Saracens, who he brought to Leicester with him when he became coach. Wigglesworth was a 9 who had no running or passing game, but was the best box kicker in the business. He has no credentials to be an attack coach and I've seen nothing to prove otherwise. Aside from Marcus Smith’s individual brilliance, our collective attack has looked very uninspiring.

 

England's defence coach (Joe El-Abd) is Borthwick's housemate from uni, who has never been employed as a defence coach before. He's doing the job part time while he's still the head coach of a team in the second division of French rugby who have an awful defensive record. England's defence has gone from being brutally efficient under Felix Jones to as leaky as a colander almost overnight.


If Borthwick brings in a new attack and defence coach then I'll absolutely get behind him but his current coaches seem to be the product of nepotism. He's brought in people he's comfortable with because he lacks confidence as an international head coach and they aren't good enough for international rugby.


England are competitive because they do some things really well, mostly they front up physically, make a lot of big hits, have a solid kicking game, a good lineout, good maul, Marcus Smith and some solid forwards. A lot of what we do well I would ascribe to Borthwick personally. I don't think he's a bad coach, I think he lacks imagination and is overly risk averse. He needs coaches who will bring a point of difference.


I guess my point is, yes England are competitive, but we’re not aiming for competitive and I honestly don't believe this coaching setup has what it takes to make us any better than competitive.


On the plus side it looks like we have an amazing crop of young players coming through. Some of them who won the u20 world cup played for England A against Australia A on the weekend and looked incredible... Check out the highlights on youtube.

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