Coach John Dobson was left frustrated by the Stormers’ inability to convert multiple opportunities against the Dragons in Cape Town.
The 29-21 victory also came at a cost as returning wing Seabelo Senatla was forced off with a calf injury, with Dobson saying he could be out for some weeks.
Despite securing five log points, the Stormers failed to capitalise on repeated entries into the Dragons’ 22.
“We turned down a couple of easy threes to go for the corner and got nothing out of it,” Dobson said. “In fact, one of those decisions led to their entry. That was a big factor in the game.”
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The Stormers, who climbed back to second on the Vodacom URC log, created numerous chances but lacked accuracy at key moments.
“We wanted to replicate last week’s efficiency [against the Bulls], but we didn’t,” Dobson added. “We turned over far too much ball, especially in the second half when we were trying things from too far out.”
Stormers captain Ruhan Nel pointed to poor decision-making.
“We did all the work to get into their 22, but then it’s a lapse of concentration or the wrong decision,” he said. “We probably had two or three clear chances where we should have scored.”
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Dobson suggested the team were “seduced by space” in their attempts to put the game beyond reach.
“We tried to play a bit harder than we needed to. Instead of sticking to our processes, we went chasing the game and used the wrong method.”
The Stormers were not helped by conceding 19 turnovers, which Dobson described as “very disappointing”, as well as missing a couple of try-scoring opportunities in a disjointed performance.
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Both gave credit to a strong Dragons defence, which stopped the Stormers maul time and again.
“I don’t think we moved a metre. This was a team that went 35m last week at Loftus,” Dobson said. “It was a big factor in not getting what we wanted to do.”
The Dragons, however, deserved credit for their defensive effort.
“That’s probably the No 1 defence in the URC since January,” Dobson said. “They’re physical, they disrupt you, and they made it very difficult for us.”
Nel added: “You can’t be fooled by their log position. They’re desperate and dangerous. They’ve got big ball-carriers and they defended our mauls really well.”
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One area where the Stormers did dominate was at scrum time, which proved crucial.
“The scrum bailed us out a few times when we were under pressure,” Nel said. “It gave us penalties and a way to exit.”
Looking ahead, Dobson said the Stormers will have to take a significant step up in performance against Edinburgh in Cape Town on Saturday.
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