Glasgow Warriors thump sloppy Stormers to book URC semifinal place
Defending champions Glasgow Warriors produced a strong performance to beat the Stormers 36-18 their United Rugby Championship quarterfinal clash at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday night.
The Warriors scored five tries from Rory Darge, Kyle Rowe (twice), Henco Venter and George Horne to book a place in the semifinal while Seabelo Senatla crossed the white line for the visitors twice.
Franco Smith's side showed class in front of their supporters as they put the dismal Stormers who never got going in the match with poor defence and handling errors.
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Winger Seabelo Senatla's remarkable resilience was once again on display for the Stormers against Glasgow Warriors. The Stormers may have struggled for positives after their 36-18 humbling against the Glasgow Warriors in the United Rugby Championship quarter-final on Friday, but winger Seabelo Senatla's performance was one of the silver linings to a dark cloud for head coach John Dobson. Senatla's early yellow card at the Scotstoun Stadium in Scotland proved costly for the visitors from the Cape. In the time he was off the field, Glasgow scored two tries. The former Springbok Sevens star seemed determined to make amends on his return from the bin, scoring two tries that brought his team right back into the match as he energised the Stormers attack. He showed the kind of indomitable spirit that has seen him overcome personal tragedy. A horiffic car crash in 2023 sidelined him from the game for more than a year, threatening to end his career. "Sabelo was magic. He was very obviously our best player," head coach Dobson said in the aftermath of the disappointing defeat. "I'm very chuffed for him, given what he's been through. That was brilliant. "I don't think we rolled over, we just made so many mistakes; Sasha running with ball and it just pops out of his hand. That was our evening."
The Citizen
4 hours ago
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Plethora of mistakes, Glasgow defence led to Stormers defeat
Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson rued a very poor performance from his charges that led to them losing their URC quarterfinal against Glasgow Warriors. Stormers wing Seabelo Senatla scored twice, but it wasn't enough as they fell to defeat in their URC quarterfinal against Glasgow Warriors. Picture: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson said the effort was there, but a plethora of mistakes and ferocious defence from the Glasgow Warriors contributed to a poor performance his side, as they were dumped out of the United Rugby Championship (URC) knockouts on Friday night. The Stormers were outplayed 36-18, despite enjoying just as many opportunities as the hosts, but an inability to finish, coupled with a poor defensive performance, meant that Glasgow put away their chances, while the visitors were left to rue what could have been. After the match Dobson admitted that it was a tough one to take, as they had gone into the game fully believing that they could walk away with a win. 'It's sitting pretty tough in the throat, emotionally. I couldn't sit in the changeroom and complain about the efforts, though. After their last try, we were all over their 22m area but we just played very poorly,' said Dobson. 'They put us under a lot of pressure, physically they defended really well. We didn't get any yardage in our carries. I don't think effort or fight was absent, but a plethora of mistakes (from us), and massive credit to Glasgow for their defence, it was excellent. 'They are also really good with the ball in hand, as we know, and if we were going to kick as inaccurately as we did, they were going to punish us.' Chasing game The Stormers will also be kicking themselves for allowing Glasgow to pull away, every time they got themselves back into the game, handing back the initiative which led to them chasing the match throughout. It was after tries to Seabelo Senatla in the middle of the first half and start of the second, with the Stormers trailing 14-6 and 19-13 on those occasions. The wings first try brought the score back to 14-13, but straight from the kick-off a penalty went against them, Glasgow kicked to the corner and Henco Venter went over, to give the hosts a 19-13 lead at halftime. The second straight after halftime made it a one-point game again, at 19-18, but from the kick-off Glasgow reclaimed the ball, went through the phases and Kyle Rowe finished things off, to push them ahead 26-18, and the hosts never looked back as they went on to comfortably win. 'We thought they would try and get around us, so we wanted to go up and out, but I think the way they played those short inside balls was very clever, and we were found wanting,' explained Dobson. 'Also, it doesn't help if you kick like we kicked, long, distant contestables that are going towards the midfield side of their 15m. Against their backs, it's very hard to defend. 'So it was poor, and we conceded a try just after we scored, the holding penalty on Suleiman and they scored from that with a maul, and then we went with an open-side contestable, which wasn't the plan, after Seabelo's try and they scored under the poles.'
The Herald
4 hours ago
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Stormers bullied by physical Glasgow, says Dobson
The Stormers were bullied when they crashed to a heavy 36-18 defeat against Glasgow Warriors in a United Rugby Championship quarterfinal clash, coach John Dobson said. In the aftermath of a devastating loss at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday, a perplexed Dobson said he did not know how his team would be able to fix their inability to dominate the gain line. The victory kept Glasgow's hopes of lifting back-to-back URC titles alive after they beat the Bulls 21-16 in the 2024 final at Loftus Versfeld Stadium. 'I think we were bullied physically, everything went wrong, and they put us under pressure,' Dobson said. 'To get so well beaten is very disappointing for us and I was probably our worst game of the season. 'Things like the line-outs and technical stuff we can fix and we also lost the technical battle and we can work on that. 'What worried me a little bit was the gain line and I thought Glasgow were physically very good and we got bullied there. 'I'm not sure how easy it is to fix that. Maybe we should spend more time in the gym. I don't know. 'Physically, they really got stuck into us and that is poor and I don't know how we fix that. 'We were well beaten by Glasgow. 'Things that we thought would not go wrong went wrong, like our line-outs. 'But all credit to Glasgow and the way they play. 'Their attack was really good and they ran with purpose.' The defeat left Dobson saying farewell to several players on a low note. Joseph Dweba, Herschel Jantjies and Ben Loader have now played their last game for the Stormers before leaving the franchise. 'It's actually sitting pretty tough in the throat,' he said. 'We didn't think we were not going to be playing next week. 'The guys are really, really distraught and it's not the way I want to say goodbye to these guys who, as I say, have put a lot in. 'We really, honestly, in our heart of hearts believed we'd be playing next week. 'I think after the last try, in the last half an hour, we were just playing very, very poorly and they put us under a lot of pressure. 'We weren't getting any yardage in our carry and [made] a plethora of mistakes. Massive credit to Glasgow for their defence a nd their ability with ball in hand. 'If we're going to kick as inaccurately as we kicked tonight [on Friday], with their attack they will punish us. 'We'd been going 90% line-outs for the last four games, then suddenly dropped in the 70s; dropped down to giving away 17 line breaks; dropped down to 65% tackle completion, which is a credit to Glasgow [in terms of] how they attacked. 'But we kept our worst performance probably in a couple of years for a knockout game, which is really disappointing.' Warriors head coach Franco Smith: 'We were a little bit off it at the end of the regular season but I'm glad we could bounce back in the quarterfinal. 'We speak the whole season about the quality of the competition and the quality of the sides. There was no easy game — always tough. 'Rory Darge played well; Henco Venter and Tom Jordan were also excellent against the Stormers. 'It's good to have played Friday night. 'We get to wait and see and whatever comes our way, we will make sure we recover well. 'The boys have learnt and adapted. They really work hard and they believe in what we do.' The Herald
