Coach Dobson wary of Ospreys’ sea level riposte after Highveld barrelling | Sport

John Dobson. (Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)

• Stormers coach John Dobson said the Ospreys will be a different side to the one that faced the Lions last week.
• The Ospreys were caned in Johannesburg, but Dobson feels they’ll be better at sea level.
• The Stormers narrowly got past Irish side Ulster on Saturday.

Stormers coach John Dobson said they’ve got a fight on their hands when they host Welsh side Ospreys in their United Rugby Championship clash at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.

The Ospreys travel to Cape Town on the back of a 45-15 defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park last week Friday, but Dobson isn’t reading much into that result.

The Stormers were fortunate to escape with a 23-20 win against Ulster on Saturday, a narrow success Dobson attributed to the bad execution of their game plan.

Dobson expects the Ospreys to be better and enjoy Cape Town more than they did Johannesburg.  

“We don’t appreciate how good the Ospreys are,” Dobson said.

“They’re the top Welsh franchise. They’re big and direct, so if you throw in Adam Beard and Gareth Anscombe, they become very strong.

“They may not be brands yet, but they’re good teams. As a team, we’re very well aware of the threat they pose.

“I’m not going to say the Ellis Park score flattered the Lions, but things got away from the Ospreys at the end.

“However, they stuck around that fight for a long time. With a reinforced team at sea-level, we’ve got a battle on our hands.”

With autumn making an early appearance in the Cape, Dobson is already thinking of having different game plans for specific conditions.

With autumn/winter descending in South Africa, spring/summer is taking shape in the Northern Hemisphere.

Dobson doesn’t expect a massive climate shift, but will ensure his team adapts to conditions as and when they confront his team.

“It’s going to be a perennial debate with regards to this competition and should we have the hypothetical situation of going north for a play-off in late-April/May, it’ll be in summer,” Dobson said.

“The Cheetahs had two plans while playing in the Pro14, so we need to have a hard court and clay court plan.

“I don’t think too much will change in terms of how we want to play over the next period because I don’t think it’ll be like July or a bog over the next four weeks.

“You have to have two different game plans in this competition.”