John Dobson describes Friday night's 38-all draw with Ulster in Belfast as a missed opportunity, though he concedes the Stormers were fortunate to salvage three log points via a penalty try awarded in the final seconds.
The result leaves the Stormers a point behind Glasgow, who beat Cardiff on the same evening, with one round of the regular season remaining. The Stormers travel to Cardiff next Friday, and a win gives them a strong chance of finishing in the top two and securing home advantage in both a quarterfinal and semifinal. If they collect five log points and Glasgow drop at least one in Belfast — where they face an in-form Ulster — the Stormers finish top.
The evening was soured by the early loss of Deon Fourie, who tore knee ligaments following a croc-roll from Ulster captain Iain Henderson, for which Henderson received a red card. Fourie, who was captaining the side in the absence of the injured Ruhan Nel, is out for the remainder of the season. Dobson was pointed in his assessment of the incident.
"That kind of incident really needs to be removed from the game and I think that is something that should see the player sent off for the entire game," he said.
Fourie's injury compounds an already growing casualty list for the Stormers, who also lost Cobus Reinach to injury in the previous match against Glasgow.
Dobson identified needless penalties and several missed scoring opportunities as the difference between a draw and a dominant win. He cited two conceded penalties in try-scoring positions — one of which he described as a 14-point swing — as well as knock-ons by Evan Roos and Imad Khan near the Ulster line.
"We were very frustrated that we didn't get five points as at some stages our dominance was pretty imperious, but I also thought we were lucky in the end to manage to get three," Dobson said. "There was also a knock on before that from Evan near the tryline when it looked like we probably would have scored. Those were four missed tries. That was frustrating as they were our mistakes."