Dobson backs embattled Sazi: ‘It was a tough afternoon for him’

Although the Stormers secured a moral victory in their drawn match against the Sharks in Durban last weekend, they didn’t fly home amid scenes of chest-beating triumphalism.             

The scrum, arguably the game’s most basic measuring tool, proved frustrating for John Dobson’s team.

Though the side of the scrum that suffered most was obvious, Dobson was loath to apportion blame before the return United Rugby Championship (URC) fixture against the Sharks at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

The Sharks’ Springbok loosehead prop Ox Nché gave Sazi Sandi a working over on their side of the scrum, but Dobson was keen to point out that teams stand and fall as one in scrums.

“Sazi was under a lot of pressure from Ox. It was a tough afternoon for Sazi. But what we saw was a huge amount of technical things we didn’t get right. We, as a pack, probably let Sazi down a bit. We need to get clarity from the refs — must the scrum go forward from both sides before it can turn? The scrum was swivelling a bit. To put it just at Sazi’s door wasn’t right,” said Dobson.

Brok Harris, who will play his 100th game for the franchise this weekend, also jumped to the embattled tighthead’s defence. “We weren’t consistent enough in terms of [our] front-row set-up and the back five putting pressure. That is a huge focus for us this week,” Harris said.

Harris, who is familiar with the vicissitudes of scrumming and has assumed a mentoring role at the Stormers, was quick to deliver a pep talk.

“I went to Sazi after the game and said one swallow does not make a summer. There will be things that we will learn from. We can’t just focus on the individual but on the pack as a whole.

“There are a few technicalities we worked on this week. We all went through it and came out the other side,” said Harris.

Dobson was unequivocal about their battles in the scrum. “We have to be a lot better.”