The stage will be set for South Africa’s biggest local rivalry as the Stormers face the Bulls in a URC clash at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday.
The Bulls confirmed on their social media earlier this week that 30 000 tickets for the URC encounter had already been sold as fans gear up for South Africa’s biggest local rivalry.
The Pretoria-based side has not had the best luck in this fixture over the last couple of years, losing seven in a row, but Dobson knows that means little going into a derby like this.
There is a chance the Stormers could claim the SA Shield with a win against the Bulls, despite their positions on the overall table. This is because of changes made meaning only games against other teams in the same shield count towards that table.
Dobson also welcomes the return of several Springboks with Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok and Deon Fourie all returning from mandatory rest periods whilst Frans Malherbe is making his comeback from injury.
Instead of shying away from the occasion the coach of the Cape Town side is facing it head-on and beating the drum ahead of the big derby.
“They have a sign that says ‘1,400m [above altitude] matters’,” said Dobson.
“We know about that before the game and that is part of the package. The hostility, it is all what it is supposed to be. It is an 80-, 90-year-old rivalry. The fuller and more hostile, the better.
“I always tell our players during warm-up, ‘look at the number of striped jerseys in the stands. It is many more than you realise.’
“Last year when we played there it took us almost an hour to get to our bus after the game because of all the Stormers fans outside. It is just a great experience.”
Dobson knows there are no friends in derby games and is bracing for a battle against the “form team” from Pretoria.
“It is going to be great for SA rugby but it’s not good for my anxiety. When Liverpool play Everton it is said to be the ‘friendly derby’ but it has produced the most red cards [Everton are responsible for more than double]. There never is a kind, benign or peaceful derby. It is going to be hell this week.”
“We have to play, not behave, with a certain amount of swagger. What is different now is that the Bulls are the form team. The stats show that. I’m not suggesting we are the underdogs because I don’t think we are but there is pressure on us. If we were five points ahead of them on the log then we might be braver.”
The coach will have some selection headaches with the chief dilemma being how to include Libbok, Willemse, Warrick Gelant and Sacha Feinburg-Mngomezulu in the same team.
Libbok will start at 10 but Dobson will need to decide whether to drop Gelant, who shone against the Sharks, to make space for Willemse at full-back and Mngomezulu at 12. Alternatively, the young prodigy could be benched to allow Willemse to wear 12 with Gelant holding his place in the side to reunite the same playmaking trio that powered the Stormers to their title in URC I.
There are also decisions to make in the pack. Does club captain Salmaan Moerat start after making his injury return off the bench against the Sharks or should he be preserved? Similarly, with the return of Malherbe, should the two-time Rugby World Cup winner be brought straight in especially considering the form of Springbok alignment camp call-up Neethling Fouche?
There are lots of questions for Dobson and his coaching staff to answer ahead of South Africa’s biggest derby.
