John Dobson hails Stormers' depth and resilience after gutsy Bayonne win

The visitors dug deep in a testing encounter at the Parc des Sports Jean Dauger, racing to an early lead before weathering a Bayonne fightback that saw the home side briefly take the lead in the second half.

Despite a red card and a later yellow, the Stormers' forwards and backs combined to regain control, with a try from Paul de Villiers and a Clinton Swart penalty seeing them across the line. 

Dobson was particularly impressed that his team was able to come away with the victory despite missing so many first-choice players.

"We've been building this group the whole time. You could name a Stormers XV that didn't play tonight – Damian Willemse, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Seabelo Senatla, Ruhan Nel, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Jurie Matthee, Cobus Reinach, Stefan Ungerer, Oli Kebble, Vernon Matongo, Frans Malherbe, Zach Porthen, who is a Springbok, Ruben van Heerden, Deon Fourie, Louw Nel, Keke Morabe, the list goes on," Dobson said.

"It's a really strong group, and nights like this show it. For a lot of these guys, this was massive. Tuks [Ntuthuko Mchunu], Neethling Fouche, Boepa [Lukhanyo Zokozela], Connor Evans, Salmaan Moerat, who is still coming back [from injury], Ruan Ackermann, Imad Khan, Johnny Roche, and Clinton Swart. They haven't had much rugby. For them to play like that in a venue like this is amazing."

Dobson also praised his side's first-half performance while acknowledging areas for improvement.

"The first half was great; tactically really good. They started really fast and put us under pressure, but we defended very, very well," he said.

The Stormers coach admitted frustration at discipline lapses in the second half but lauded the team's ability to grind out the win.

"We got ourselves into trouble. That red card cost us, and our discipline was poor for the second week in a row.

"Sometimes, with ball in hand, we do things that put us under pressure. But the way we came off the canvas and won – that's special."