The Stormers' 52-40 bonus point win over the Scarlets came at a heavy price after the Cape side lost three hookers during a bizarre United Rugby Championship clash on Saturday, coach John Dobson said.
Dobson said he had prepared contingency plans for losing two hookers, but never imagined all three would be unavailable during an action-packed contest at the Cape Town Stadium.
Andre-Hugo Venter, veteran Deon Fourie and Lukhanyo Vokozela picked up injuries which has left the Stormers with a major headache ahead of a clash against Ulster on Saturday.
Two tries in the last 10 minutes from 20-year-old replacement flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed helped the Stormers get over the line against the feisty Welsh outfit.
“I'm trying to avoid you quoting me as saying there’s a crisis, but it’s hard to walk past it, isn't it? I do agree with you about the word ‘bizarre’ – it was absolutely bizarre,” Dobson said.
“That's why I give enormous credit to our captain Paul de Villiers and his team for keeping their heads.
"What is it? If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs, including in the coaches’ boxes.
“I was really pleased with myself because I had a really good contingency sheet for what would happen if we lost both hookers, but I never thought about losing three, you know what I mean?
"Deon was the third, so to lose three hookers takes away all our set-piece options.
“But credit to them for the way they closed that game out.”
Dobson said his team would have to step up their defensive work against Ulster.
“At halftime there wasn’t much hope for Scarlets after we led 33-14 at the break,” Dobson said.
“But the way they played deserved credit.
"You could see they were getting hope after the break.
"We weren’t direct enough and a couple of years ago we would’ve lost that."I don’t want us to be a team that becomes a bit too loose because we think we might not be playing one of the best sides in the URC or it is not a local derby.
“We got a bit like that today and we must nip it in the bud.”
Stormers 52: Tries: Zachary Porthen, Haashim Pead, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Olly Reid and Yaqeen Ahmed (2). Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (6).
Scarlets 40: Tries: Joe Roberts (3), Ioan Jones, Macs Page and Josh MacLeod. Conversions: Carwyn Leggat-Jones (5).
Other URC scores: Cardiff 21 Sharks 36, Edinburgh 31 Lions 10, Bulls 34 Ulster 26.
