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Bok players want shot at Leinster reveals Stormers coach

By Rugby365
Seabelo Senatla of DHL Stormers is tackled by Rob Russell of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship match between DHL Stormers and Leinster at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

There will be a huge spotlight on the Stormers’ top-of-the-table URC clash against Leinster this week, but the Capetonians will be using the fixture to help them focus on the bigger picture.

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That bigger picture is a home Champions Cup Round of 16 clash against Premiership giants Harlequins a week later in Cape Town.

The Stormers’ Springboks, which includes World Cup winners Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe and Damian Willemse, had the option of staying in South Africa and using the Currie Cup to get ready for the play-off.

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However, they sent a clear message to Dobson about their priorities.

“We could think romantically and go try and beat Leinster, but the truth is those guys [Boks] haven’t played for two months,” said Dobson.

“It’s a game that will help us get ready for Harlequins, which will be a great occasion. Whether we go further into Europe, I don’t know. Hopefully, we have 50,000 people at Cape Town Stadium.

“We got a home European knockout, so it will be very special for us.

“We offered the Sharks [Currie Cup] game to the Springboks to get ready, but they said “no” because they really want to get integrated and go to Leinster, which is great.

“I do suspect that we are going to be ring rusty.

“We prepared hard, but Kitsie [Kitshoff] and co haven’t played since the middle of January, so we have to be realistic.

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“We haven’t got the home [URC] semifinal yet, so we will probably have to win two of our last three games, but if we can pick up a point or two at Leinster it will certainly help us.”

Coaching responsibilities
With the Leinster game happening in Dublin on Friday and Western Province’s Currie Cup clash against the Sharks in Durban taking place on Sunday, Dobson confirmed he will be at both games.

However, he will be sharing the coaching responsibilities this week.

“[Skills coach] Labeeb [Levy] will stay with the Currie Cup team,” Dobson explained.

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“We will get to the [Sharks] game – we [Stormers] play Friday night and the other game is Sunday, but Labeeb will run the programme.

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“We did a lot of the prep work already and it is not fair for us to fly in on the day of the [Currie Cup] game and take over from Labeeb, so he will run it, but we will all be at the game in Durban.”

Stormers centre Ruhan Nel will remain in Cape Town this week as he awaits the birth of his first child.

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Bull Shark 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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