Stormers chief John Dobson and speedster Seabelo Senatla agree that “something special is brewing” as the Cape outfit eye a third Vodacom URC final appearance.
Inaugural URC winners in 2022, the two-time finalists brace for a quarter-final showdown with defending champions Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday night.
“It has been a tough season and a lot hasn’t gone our way,” Dobson told SportsBoom.co.za. “If you said at the start of the season we would be without our key forwards, people would have written us off. Yet, this team has shown real leadership and heart.”
Hit hard by injuries to heavyweights Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie and Ben-Jason Dixon, the Stormers still clinched a fifth-place finish after 18 rounds of the league campaign.
Dobson’s charges face a Glasgow outfit on Friday night packed with confidence and momentum at a venue where the Capetonians have never won and lost in the playoffs last season.
“We are R50–60 million behind the Bulls and the Sharks, yet we’re achieving on the same level and beyond. We’re the most successful team in the URC,” he said.
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“Something special is brewing here, and we are at the dawn of doing something really cool. We are the most watched team in the whole of URC and the most supported club team in world rugby. We will fight for everything.”
For Senatla, Friday’s clash is already a personal victory. The former Blitzbok star nearly lost his arm in a car crash in 2023 before returning to action late last year, and starts on the wing in the Stormers’ biggest match of the season.
“It has been hard for me, the toughest ever in my life journey,” Senatla said. “And not just rugby, but getting back to normal life was very difficult. At times, it felt like I was alone.
“I need to thank Dobbo for giving me another opportunity to play again. I actually posted on Instagram the other day that I was only supposed to be back now in May. It’s such a huge grace from God that has put me in a position to play again.”
And the speedster believes the Stormers can go the distance. “Dobbo has challenged us this season,” he said. “It just shows what we can produce as a side.
“The challenge for us is to try and maintain those standards all the time. I really think we can go all the way, if we take our chances.”
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
