Stormers boss laments long list of injuries following Champions Cup loss

The Stormers went down 53-16 in their Round Two encounter with Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

It was a tough outing for the Stormers, who have been hit hard by injury this season and saw three players sent to the sin bin in the second half.

Director of Rugby John Dobson has identified the DHL Stormers' defence as a key area of focus in the build-up to this week's Vodacom United Rugby Championship clash at DHL Stadium.

Dobson and captain Salmaan Moerat gave their thoughts after the match in London, before the Stormers regroup for this coming Saturday's showdown with the Lions in Cape Town in Round Eight of the URC.

"I think if we came here full noise - Damian Willemse was available, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff, two of the world's best props - it's just a different team," he told the Stormers' website.

"That would've been a classic game. We got ourselves into a hole with a tough URC start and an injury list like I've never seen in my career. But it's like being invited to someone's birthday party and complaining about the food – we're so grateful to be here, and I desperately want us to be able to compete. It's just poor timing. What we do know about this tournament, and we were reminded of it by Harlequins, is it's a step up. We've got teams into the quarter-finals and then we got hammered. But we're keen to get there.

"I thought the new guys who haven't played much for the Stormers were superb. Vernon Matongo, Louw Nel were really good. Jonathan Roche when he came on for his debut… those guys took their opportunities really well.

"Connor Evans was good, Sazi Sandi showed plenty of improvement. It was a curious game, I don't think any of those guys played particularly poorly but we got well beaten."