John Dobson is on the brink of history as the DHL Stormers coach. If his team wins against the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday night at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town, he becomes the most successful coach in the franchise’s history…
“Dobson has, to borrow a phrase from an article I read this week, turned duds into dynamite and discards into desperados who, after just three wins in their first eight matches, haven’t lost in the last three months,” writes Mark Keohane.
But Saturday is Dobson’s Big Dance and, like so many of those teenage romcoms, the audience loves nothing more than when a bunch of discards and delinquents combine for the most explosive and appealing combination, and win.
WIN: R10 000 Cellucity hamper with Cape {town} Etc
Dobson took a motley crew and turned them into magicians and his prize must be the URC title. More than that though, the Stormers, he told me, is a team for the people, about the people and the product of the people of the Western Cape.
Dobson gets it.
He understands the rugby culture of the Western Cape, and he also knows its rich but fractured history. His historian father made sure of this, which is why this is a match that Dobson, privately, will always dedicate to his old boy.
The Stormers of 2022 are a team accessible to all, representative of all and playing a final in a stadium that has never barred anyone on the basis of colour.
They are a team of champions, even before kick-off.
Mark Keohane is the founder of keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer and the digital content director at Highbury Media. Twitter: @mark_keohane
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Meet the team set to beat the Bulls on Saturday, on and off the field snaps
Picture: SA Rugby Mag
