John Dobson (Gallo Images)

• Stormers coach John Dobson and his players are “embarrassed” by the 39-6 scoreline against them at Loftus Versfeld.
• The Bulls scored five unanswered tries before the game was abandoned due to a thunderstorm.
• Dobson insists they were not relieved to get off the park early, saying they’re “a very proud team”.

Stormers coach John Dobson says they were left “embarrassed” by the scoreline in their Super Rugby Unlocked encounter against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday night.

The Bulls led 39-6 when the game was called off due to a thunderstorm, with the hosts credited with a bonus-point win as the match had gone past half-time.

For Dobson and his charges it was a night to forget, with the Bulls running in five tries to leave the visitors shell-shocked.

“Credit to the Bulls, they put us under a massive amount of pressure. We just made mistake after mistake,” a dejected Dobson told reporters in a virtual media briefing afterwards.

With the scores level at 6-6 after the first quarter, the game appeared on a knife edge before the Bulls stunned the Stormers with four quick tries to take a 32-6 lead at half-time.

Dobson paid credit to the Bulls for putting his charges under pressure and said the game was decided in the period before the break.

“They put us under pressure in the air, we lost a lot of those contestables, their maul was really effective. We defended their mauls really poorly. We just made mistake after mistake, that’s the result of being under pressure.

“I thought our body language was poor, we looked tired up here. When you concede two or three tries in a row the pack takes shots and they looked tired. We were frustrated with our body language.

“I think we did show some character after half-time, [but] the guys are very disappointed and we were embarrassed, including myself.”

Dobson, though, appeared irked when asked if they were relieved that the game was called off early.

“I’m only referring to that period in the first half when they scored three back-to-back tries – we looked tired then,” he responded.

“I thought in the second half our body language was good, we played with much more energy, the guys wanted to get back out there. You must understand, this is a very proud rugby team with some really good players.”

As they waited for the storm to clear, Dobson said the players were eager to get back on the park.

“The players absolutely wanted to get back out there to try and redeem some pride. They set themselves a target for how many tries they wanted to score to redeem pride. It’s a very proud team and we definitely wanted to get back on the field. We feel embarrassed by that scoreline and how we played.”

Meanwhile Dobson’s counterpart, Jake White, was understandably chuffed by the efforts of his team.

“The first 40 minutes was probably the best we’ve played in a long time, considering the opposition we played against,” White said.

The former Springbok mentor said he was particularly pleased that both his forwards and backs had played their part.

“The thing that I enjoyed the most is the continuity and the interplay between backs and forwards.

“It wasn’t a case of just playing with our forwards, although I must say I think our forwards were outstanding… the way they scrummed and the way they mauled… it definitely set up a platform for the backs to play… but I definitely enjoyed the interplay between the backs and forwards.

“Some of the touches and some of the offloading was really pleasing.”

Marius van der Westhuizen (Gallo)

• The Pumas were left heartbroken on Friday night after conceding three tries in 10 minutes to go down to the Stormers.
• The refereeing of Marius van der Westhuizen has been a talking point. 
• The Stormers’ winning try came off a pass that many believed should have been ruled ‘forward’. 

It was so very close to being a
night to remember for the Pumas, but it ended in heartache as the
underdogs fell at the final hurdle to go down 42-37 to
the Stormers in Nelspruit on Friday night. 

The Pumas, for the majority of the contest, were
superior to their more fancied opposition in all departments and it reflected
on the scoreboard as they opened up a 37-14 lead after an hour. 

Three Stormers tries in the last 10 minutes,
however, secured a stunning comeback win for the Capetonians as the Pumas ran
out of puff with their lack of experienced depth exposed. 

Stormers coach John Dobson admitted that the
result was a “burglary” by
his side, while Pumas boss Jimmy Stonehouse said it felt as if “somebody
had died” in the Pumas changeroom in the moments following the final
whistle. 

An injury to Pumas flyhalf Eddie Fouche didn’t help
the hosts. 

One of the form players in Super Rugby Unlocked so
far, Fouche was left screaming in agony after buckling under a cleanout from
Salmaan Moerat and Chris van Zyl at a breakdown. 

Stonehouse confirmed to Sport24 on Saturday morning
that scans had still not been done on Fouche, but it is suspected that he may
have dislocated his hip and his season could very well be over. 

One of the major talking points during and after
the match, however, was the standard of the refereeing.

Marius van der Westhuizen, one of the country’s
more experienced referees, was the man with the whistle. 

The majority of the confusion lies in the blowing
of the laws at the breakdown, where referees are now encouraged to be even
stricter on infringements – on attack and defence – and penalise players
swiftly in an effort to speed up play. 

The moment that buried the Pumas on Friday night,
however, came from open play when Stormers replacement lock JD Schickerling
released Warrick Gelant for what would be the match-winning try towards the end
of the contest. 

The pass was sent upstairs to AJ Jacobs for TMO
inspection and looked like it may have been forward, but it was decided that
the try would stand. 

Stonehouse felt naturally aggrieved at the call and
while he said he sympathised with referees, particularly given the breakdown law
changes, he said the consequences of being on the wrong side of such “50/50” decisions hurt the smaller unions. 

“I want to make it very clear that I know it’s
tough for the referees at the moment, especially at breakdowns,” said
Stonehouse. 

“But we just ask that they be consistent.

“It might be tough for the referees, but it’s
also tough for us. For us, results like last night [Friday] can be the
difference between securing a sponsorship or not … it’s about the players’
futures.

“I don’t want to come across negatively and,
as I said, I understand that it’s tough for the referees, but we do need to
work together to find some consistency.”

While Schickerling’s pass was naturally the call
that stood out given that it resulted in the winning score, Stonehouse also
pointed to the breakdown and not always understanding the decisions that were
taken in that area. 

It was a tough pill to swallow for the Pumas, who
had done everything right up until the last 10 minutes, but Stonehouse said he
was largely pleased with the efforts of his players. 

“It wasn’t nice for us, but the biggest thing
is that the players now know they can do it against the bigger unions will all
of the resources,” he said. 

“You need to have that depth at this level and
that’s what we don’t have. The players off the bench must know how important it
is for them to come on and do their job, otherwise we’re going to get smacked.

“In terms of effort, I couldn’t ask any more
… the guys played their hearts out.”

Rugby Australia chairperson Hamish McLennan.

Rugby Australia chairperson Hamish McLennan says South Africa’s withdrawal from the Rugby Championship is ‘disappointing and surprising”.

The world champions pulled out of the four-nations event last week, citing concerns over player welfare as the main reason.

“We’ll find a way through it,” McLennan told reporters at the launch of Australia’s indigenous jersey.

“We were surprised because South Africa did agree to the tournament and the scheduling so we were disappointed that they pulled out.

“It will cost us quite a lot of money but we’ll find a way through it… we’ve proven so far that we’re a pretty resilient organisation.”

McLennan said they would not claim any sort of compensation from SA Rugby for pulling out but he did find the decision puzzling.

“I think it was obvious that [the competition] was good for everyone,” the rugby boss stressed.

“If you look at South Africa, their top players won’t have played Test rugby for 20 months when the (British and Irish) Lions come through next year.

“We would have given them ample time to prepare for the Tests, we’ve already got the Argentinians out here at the moment and they are quite satisfied with how their preparations are going. So we were a little perplexed but we’ll have to move on …”

Revised Rugby Championship draw:

31 October – Australia v New Zealand at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium

7 November – Australia v New Zealand at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium

14 November – New Zealand v Argentina at Sydney’s Bankwest Stadium

21 November – Australia v Argentina at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium

28 November – Argentina v New Zealand at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium

5 December – Argentina v Australia at Sydney’s Bankwest Stadium

– Compiled by Sport24 staff