KEEP ON SMILING

Zaahier Adams

The Stormers under coach John Dobson are on a mission to build a rugby dynasty in the Western Cape.

John Dobson is as Capetonian as the fish from Hout Bay and the wine from Stellenbosch.

Born-and-bred a stone throw from Newlands, and blessed with a rugby encyclopaedia as a late father “Oupa Dobson” and mentor in former Bishops guru Basil Bey, Dobson is acutely aware of the the love and affection the “mense” have for Western Province and the Stormers.

It’s a fire that burns within “Dobbo” himself. And the energy that drives his teams to play the brand of rugby to “Make Cape Town Smile”.

Two successive United Rugby Championship finals has certainly helped the cause, and Dobson and his team, would like nothing more than to raise the giant silver trophy aloft again in front of what is expected to be a record 55 000 fans at the DHL Stadium.

“When we sat down towards the end of Covid-19 restrictions and thought about what we’re trying to do with the Stormers, we had a simple mission: to get Cape Town smiling again,” he said.

“It all ties in with what we want to build. We know what rugby in the Western Cape looks like, what it means to the people.

“Last year our mission was called Get Cape Town Smiling because it was a start. And this year it was a bit more emphatic – Make Cape Town Smile – and it’s all about what we’re trying to build.

“Because we know that being in the Western Cape looks like what it means to the people. There is a police commander at a station out in Delft or Blue Downs, I’m not sure which, and he told me that when the Stormers win, genderbased violence drops that night.

“And you can extrapolate that as far as you want. It’s helluva powerful.”

Dobson explained the “why” behind his team’s success in further detail, claiming that their motivating factor will always be “The Faithful” who part with their hard-earned cash to take up a seat in the stands.

“We are different to every other team (in the country). This team belongs to people across every demographic, and every LSM, and our connection with that is so important to us,” he said.

“Everyone has a story. Marvin (Orie) is from Toilet City in Belhar. Kitsie (Steven Kitshoff) and Frans (Malherbe) keep the brandy sales (going). We are trying to build a special rugby place here.

“If you look at those people who fills them (the stands), they’re not swanning out of the penthouses in Blouberg or Clifton. They represent our men. They represent our people of Cape Town.

“I went to the airport and there was a guy running up to me, asking if he could get a lift back to town (Cape Town). He did not know who I was.

“But he told me ‘I want to watch the Stormers on the weekend, what I am doing is I’m not taking public transport this week’. He’s coming every day to the airport and asks for a lift from there to get to work in town.

“Those are the people we are playing for and our project is to restore the Stormers to its full pride. We have sold this vision and we have only just started. I have said to the players that we are going to build a dynasty here.”

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