Full strength Stormers and Munster squads preparing for epic URC final

The Stormers and Munster are both set to be bolstered by returning star players for what should essentially be a full strength United Rugby Championship (URC) final at Cape Town Stadium next Saturday.

Both teams were missing key players in their semi-final wins over Connacht and Leinster, the Stormers having been without star loose forward Deon Fourie and lock Marvin Orie, while Munster were missing Connor Murray, RG Snyman and Malakai Fekitoa.

However, Fourie and Orie have both already been cleared to feature in the final, while Stormers coach John Dobson believes that Munster will also have their star power back for the crunch game.

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“It’s going to be an incredibly hard task to beat them in the final. They have beaten us twice and boast an incredible recent record away from home,” said Dobson.

“The achievement of winning against Leinster without Conor Murray, RG Snyman and Malakai Fekitoa was just unbelievable.

“Deon didn’t play for us when they beat us on their last visit here, and that will make a difference for us, but they will be stronger than they were against Leinster.

“RG was only out because of HIA (concussion) protocols, and I think it was the same with Fekitoa. So they should both be back. They should have a very similar side to the one that came here last time.”

Fighting back

Munster had a disastrous start to the URC season, losing five of their opening seven games, but they have since been in fantastic form, winning eight and drawing one of their next 11 matches to power to a fifth-place finish on the URC log.

That included claiming a stunning 26-24 win over the Stormers in Cape Town last month, followed by drawing with the Sharks in Durban, and then beating Glasgow in Scotland and Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in the knockouts.

They will thus be fired up and ready for the final and will be confident of continuing their fantastic away form over the past couple of months.

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“Munster fought back from a really tough start to the season and then went deep into Europe and they are now in a URC final. Any team that wins at the Aviva against Leinster has to be a good team and has something going for it,” said Dobson.

“Munster have this season beaten us in Cape Town, which was something no-one else has done, and they also were the only team to beat Glasgow in Glasgow (in the quarterfinal). They also had a draw in Durban.

“They come to Cape Town for the final having won two away playoffs. A team that can do that is very dangerous and very formidable and we know we are going to have to play very well to beat them.”

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