In the second part of our interview with John Dobson, the Stormers head coach admitted that he is dreading losing the services of his captain Steven Kitshoff and described the Springbok loosehead prop as being “irreplaceable”.
Kitshoff is arguably the world’s best player in his position and will leave the Stormers to join Ulster on a three-year deal after the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France.
Set to play his final Stormers match
The 31-year-old’s last match for the Stormers will be in the United Rugby Championship final against Munster in Cape Town on May 27 and Dobson knows that losing his talisman will be a big blow for the Cape Town-based outfit.
“I don’t think you can replace Steven Kitshoff as you can’t replace Frans Malherbe,” he said. “He (Kitshoff) is just a one generational player, you know, as a leader, as a person, everything.
“He knows his detail, is professional on the field, socially great as a team glue member and understands the game. It’s just remarkable. Just irreplaceable. I can’t give a silver lining. There’s no silver lining. There’s a dark cloud that he’s going. Well, the silver lining is that he’ll come back. I’ve got no question we’ll get him back in a few years. And he can play here until he’s 38. His body is in that sort of condition.”
Although he described Kitshoff as “irreplaceable”, the fact of the matter is the Stormers will have to find a replacement and Dobson revealed that he is working on doing just that.
“We’ll look domestically at a guy like Sti Sithole who we’re speaking to at the Lions,” added Dobson. “Kwenzo Blose is a promising youngster here, but you don’t replace Steven Kitshoff.
“If somebody could tell me there’s a player in the world, in the market, who could replace Steven Kitshoff I’d be delighted but there’s no player available of his quality I will tell you that.
“And also you want to be true to guys who are part of our regional fit. Sti played here as a junior, Kwenzo has come through our junior structures, Ali Vermaak is still around, Brock Harris is a legend and they’re just going to have to fill the boots.”
What a shift from Steven Kitshoff! 🙌
78 Minutes
17/17 Tackles made
2 Turnovers won
3 Carries
2 Passes
1 Offload📸 @THESTORMERS #URC #STOvCON pic.twitter.com/JkfnpMHIR3
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) May 14, 2023
Although it’s a setback for the Stormers to lose their skipper, Dobson has worked wonders as the Stormers head coach and he hopes to build on their current success despite the departure of world class players like Kitshoff.
“The first thing we’ve got to do, which was our goal this year, is to sustain the success of last year, which I think we’ve done no matter what happens next Saturday (against Munster),” he said. “We’ve proven it wasn’t a fluke (winning 2022’s URC title). A lot of what we’ve achieved in filling up the Cape Town Stadium, like we can do next weekend, it gives a slightly false impression in that there’s lots of work to be done on our depth.
“There’s probably a few who we have lost over the couple of years, two world class players in Kistie and Warrick Gelant (who joined Racing 92 at the start of the season).
Close to a private equity deal
“We’ve got to get our production lines better, our junior systems better. We are probably overachieving now as we are still under administration by SA Rugby. We need a proper private equity deal, which is very close by all accounts, to happening.
“So, I want to see us properly established. At the moment, I feel like we are redlining, and we’re doing magic with limited resources. As I said, we’re under administration. Some of the other teams have got far more resources than us. So we need to get our house in order admin-wise, I say become private.
“If there’s a World Club Championship in a couple of years and the Stormers are there, it’s gonna be tough for us next year. We are not going to be massively in the transfer market like I’ve read other teams like the Bulls and Sharks are. Everybody’s got massive targets on our backs. So it’s gonna be a tough one next year. So we’re just gonna keep fighting, but we want to establish ourselves as one of the top club teams in the world.”
READ MORE: John Dobson: Stormers head coach on his incredible journey and success as URC title showdown with Munster awaits
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