Stormers coach John Dobson is delighted with their position atop the United Rugby Championship (URC) standings but was less enamoured by their performance in beating Zebre 31-13 in Parma at the weekend.
The bonus point win leaves the Stormers with 19 out of a possible 20 points and their outstanding points difference of +103 sees them claim first place ahead of Munster (+34).
The Stormers and Munster are the only teams to have won all four of their matches this season, while Ulster are the only other unbeaten team, shocking the Sharks in Durban to go three from three.
“Where we are is nice and our set piece was nice and I thought we defended really well. But we were not at our clinical best,” Dobson said.
“We maybe varied the tempo of our game a bit too much; some would call it overplaying. We probably pushed things a little when we wanted to be very direct.
“But Zebre close down space very well and we’ll take a five-try win, even with an intercept try at the end. It’s going to be a huge battle next weekend against Benetton in Treviso, where we have not won before.”
The Lions, meanwhile, claimed their first win of the season as they beat the Scarlets 29-18 at Ellis Park. While the victory was welcome, especially after a torrid overseas tour, it was a mixed performance with their finishing probably deserving a “D” mark as they failed to fully capitalise on a plethora of possession.
While the Lions did well in the basic building blocks of the game, especially the scrums and mauls, their attacks would too often come to naught against a Scarlets side that was outstanding on the ground.
Coach Ivan van Rooyen blamed the attacking breakdown.
“At stages we were able to build some nice momentum against an aggressive rush defence, but our attacking breakdown let us down a bit so we did not always capitalise on what we created.
“Our game management was at times really good, but then the attacking breakdown gave Scarlets possession and territory back again.
“But it’s a feeling of relief after being in the game in the last five minutes against both Cardiff and Zebre but not getting over the line.
“In the last 10 minutes against Benetton we did not handle the pressure well, so we’re grateful for the win today. We never felt that we weren’t in control, but we need to be more accurate.
“We created some really good pictures on attack. When we got quick ball we were able to suck them in. I felt we created opportunities and if we get quick ball then we will have even more chances.
“The more connected we are in attack, the more we will be able to utilise what we create,” Van Rooyen said.
