"It felt a little greasy [in the heat] - the ball is a little greasy. The ball comes up, it's not sticking to the fingers, so the pass isn't as accurate."
Ruhan Nel and Damian Willemse during the United Rugby Championship match between the Stormers and Ulster at DHL Stadium on October 31, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. Picture: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images.
Head coach John Dobson and skipper Ruhan Nel addressed the Stormers’ handling errors and defence in Saturday’s bonus-point victory at Cape Town Stadium.
The Stormers beat Ulster 33-7 in round five of the URC, their fourth successive bonus-point win at home in all competitions before a month’s break. Yaqeen Ahmed scored a try and kicked four conversions in the five-try triumph.
Handling errors disrupted the opening exchanges between the two teams, with the hosts leading 12-7 at half-time.
Ulster scored first through David McCann’s converted try but Keynan Knox was then sin-binned, and the Stormers made the extra man count via tries by JD Schickerling and Paul de Villiers.
“We were on 14 knock-ons at half-time, which is just a staggering statistic,” Dobson told reporters.
“One or two [offloads] we forced. Then Vernon Paulo forces one under the posts and we turn it over. We said ‘no offloads’, and Ntuks [Ntuthuko Mchunu] goes and does a chicken wing.
“We were about to break the radios, but JD was under the posts. That was the whole narrative of that game, especially in the first hour, just the knock-ons. To give them 11 scrum feeds by half-time is a lot.”
Nel, who scored his team’s fourth try from an Ahmed cross-kick, said the players tended to run away from the man making the break . He also noted that the 2:45pm kick-off was a first for them at the stadium this season.
‘Felt a little greasy’
“It felt a little greasy [in the heat] – the ball is a little greasy,” he said. “The ball comes up, it’s not sticking to the fingers, so the pass isn’t as accurate.
“We tried to adjust at half-time, if there’s a linebreak, maybe play a bit more towards the ball and don’t stretch the pass as we did in the first half.”
On keeping the Ulsterman scoreless after the break, the centre added: “If you can go from set-piece to set-piece defence, we’d love that.
“But teams try to break you down and put you under pressure with their style of play, and there are going to be times in a game when you end up scrambling in defence.
“When that happens, I think it shows how much we feel for each other, to get back behind the ball and apply pressure again. So, yes, I’m very happy that we only conceded one try there.”
This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.
