Stormers coach John Dobson and captain Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu both agreed that ill-discipline and set-piece failures proved decisive in a second straight derby loss to the Sharks.

The KwaZulu-Natalians beat the Cape side 36-24 – the first time they’ve done the double in one season over the Stormers since Super Rugby in 2012.

The Stormers were unable to build on a promising first half and again paid the price for costly infringements, particularly around the maul and in the aerial contest.

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Dobson admitted the Durban outfit were deserving winners across both encounters, while expressing deep frustration that the same issues resurfaced just a week after the loss in Cape Town.

“Credit to the Sharks, they beat us properly over the past two weeks. Our discipline was poor and our set-piece definitely let us down. I thought their aerial game was really good and they played with a really clear plan that worked for them.”

The Stormers conceded a total of 17 penalties – two more than last Saturday – and what troubled the Stormers director of rugby most was the lack of progress between the two derbies, with familiar problems once again undermining his side.

“The most destroying part of last week is that the same things that went wrong last week, went wrong this week. Five-metre line outs not converted, giving penalties away at mauls which led to some of the discipline stuff. So for the stuff to fix, there needs to be a change in behaviour. It was really poor from us and I feel bad for our supporters.”

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Feinberg-Mngomezulu echoed his coach’s sentiments, pointing to a critical lapse in composure after the Stormers had wrestled control early in the second half.

“The lack of discipline cost us. When we played our game, we were on top of them. In the second half, we were up 24-14 and we just let it slip. We were being reckless, careless and irresponsible.”

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