John Dobson: Five things to know about the Stormers' title-winning coach

Stormers head coach John Dobson created history at the club as he guided the Cape Town side to their first-ever title of any kind in last season’s United Rugby Championship.

Dobson instilled a free-flowing and instinctual style of play into the Stormers, aligning with the kind of rugby played in the Western Cape, which proved hugely successful with his team stringing together some magnificent tries in their title-winning campaign.

The coach is a fascinating character who used Greek mythology and a Dylan Thomas poem to inspire his troops to achieve success, despite the odds being stacked against them, headlined by a dire financial situation that saw the Stormers depart from their beloved Newlands.

Here are some things that may not be known about Dobson.

Father was a referee and rugby writer

Paul Dobson, John’s father, was an influential referee and rugby writer for many years in the region and served as chairman of the Western Province Referee Society from 1985 until 1999, after which he was awarded Honorary membership and became an honorary life president. In 2012, he was awarded the World Rugby referee award for distinguished service.

Outside of refereeing, Paul Dobson was an avid rugby writer and published several books, including “The Official History of South African Rugby” and “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry”, based on the Springboks and the All Blacks.

Undoubtedly, the Stormers coach’s love for rugby was born from his father’s passion and involvement in the sport.

Dual masters

Dobson’s mind stretches beyond rugby as the coach is extremely well qualified with two master’s degrees, one in Business Administration and the other in Creative Writing.

It certainly explains his strong command of the English language, often showcased in press conferences where the Stormers man very rarely says anything by mistake. This a truly valuable skill for a personality who is constantly in the spotlight with scores of journalists listening for any gaps or points of interest.

Once again taking after his father, Dobson has two published novels called “Year of Gherkin” and “Year of Turnip”.

The novels are comically based, and Dobson uses his main character to showcase societal issues in South Africa.

There is supposedly a third book written and waiting for publication, all of which Dobson has completed whilst coaching at various levels.

Rugby writing

Dobson’s interest in writing is not only in a creative sense but, of course, within rugby as the Stormers coach was the founding editor of the inaugural SA Rugby Magazine in 1995.

The writing did not stop there, as Dobson was a founder of the media365 group and, subsequently, Rugby365. This once again showcases the unique mind of the coach that not only includes rugby and writing and entrepreneurship.

Unique playing career

Dobson played throughout the levels for Western Province as well as in Italy and Portugal. However, an interesting period of his playing career was for local club Northerns in Cape Town, where he was the only white player, as this was during apartheid in South Africa.

Speaking to Western Province’s official website in an interview nine years ago, Dobson explained that he needed to “broaden” his mind.

“I also played for Northerns in Elsie’s River. I was a youngster and I felt I needed to broaden my mind beyond the Ivory tower,” he said.

“It was important to appreciate the amazing sacrifices that some players went through to play this great game – some things that some people take for granted.”