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'That is now a crisis, to be honest' - John Dobson reveals Stormers' issue

Stormers players celebrate following their victory during the European Rugby Champions Cup, Pool 4 Rugby Union match between Stormers and Stade Rochelais (La Rochelle) at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on December 16, 2023. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia / AFP) (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP via Getty Images)

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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Injuries have decimated the Capetonians’ depth in that position and things were compounded when replacement prop Lizo Gqoboka suffered an ankle injury in the second half of his team’s 43-21 win over Edinburgh on Saturday.

Gqoboka came on for the 39-year-old Brok Harris, but he lasted for just a few minutes before Harris had to return to the field.

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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.

Video Spacer

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.

With Ulster (URC) and La Rochelle (Champions Cup Round of 16) heading to Cape Town, the Stormers are now in a race against time to provide Harris with some backup in the coming weeks.

“That is now a crisis, to be honest,” Dobson told reporters after Saturday’s match.

“Lizo rolled his ankle and with scrumming pressure, rolled ankles are quite significant.

“So, that is Lizo, Sti [Sithole], Ali [Vermaak], Leon Lyons and Kwenzo [Blose] out now.

“We are going to have to get somebody in otherwise we won’t be compliant for next week [against Ulster].”

Dobson revealed that he tried to get a former Stormer on loan from the Cheetahs, but it could not happen due to the Bloemfontein side’s development partnership with Ospreys.

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“I suppose we could find some Georgian,” Dobson joked.

He added: “We are in trouble and that is the truth. It will be someone in South Africa.

“We can’t borrow from the Cheetahs because they fulfilled their loan quota. We thought we could get Schalk Ferreira.

“It would be quite funny if Brok was substituted by an older player.

“We wanted Schalk because he is an old Stormer, but they have already fulfilled the loan quota with Ospreys.

“We are going to need somebody in on Monday.”

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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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