Stormers 'about to thrive' as new investment drives instant change

A new era at the Stormers and Western Province is well underway with Red Disa's acquisition of 74% shareholding in the union completed less than a week ago, and already changes are taking shape. 

On Tuesday, it was announced that new owner Johan le Roux would immediately take on the role of CEO of WP Rugby, while Stormers coach John Dobson was elevated to the role of director of rugby (DoR). 

READ | New leadership structure for Stormers

That is unlikely to change too much from a rugby operations perspective given that Dobson has essentially been operating in a DoR capacity for the last three seasons, contracting players and brokering deals. 

Le Roux's arrival as head honcho, though, does provide an injection of some much-needed stability at the union which will allow Dobson to focus solely on the rugby. 

Speaking on the deal last week ahead of his side's commanding 43-21 United Rugby Championship victory over Edinburgh, Dobson acknowledged that while the certainty of the Red Disa deal had long provided the players with a sense of security, its finalisation did bring an element of relief that filtered down to all areas of the union. 

"The players have been kept well up to speed, so it wasn't this massive moment of euphoria," Dobson said.

"But there is a huge sense now of comfort, and when guys are worrying about other things, it takes away from performance. For a long time, we were survivors, and now we feel like we're in an era where we are about to thrive.

"There may not be dramatic changes to the rugby programme, but just the changes to the commercial growth are exciting. The more the business grows, the more we'll invest in players."

It is understood that the deal will see an injection of R148 million into the WP Rugby