Stormers prove last year’s URC title was no flash in the pan

The Stormers have proved without a shadow of a doubt that they belong in the upper echelons of the United Rugby Championship (URC) after their 43-25 semi-final win over Connacht sent them into a second grand final in as many seasons.

Coupled with Munster’s stunning 16-15 upset over Leinster in the second semi, the defending champions will once again host the final at a bouncing Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, 27 May.

Last year it was a massive surprise when two South African teams contested the inaugural URC final, with the Stormers emerging victorious over the Bulls.

So it was a big goal of the franchise to back up that stunning first season by going as far as they could in their second season and try and defend their title, with the Western Cape side now just one step away from doing just that.

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“It’s a little bit emotional, to be honest. Our big fear was to prove that we belong and that it wasn’t a fluke,” admitted Stormers coach John Dobson after their win over Connacht.

“If you said we were going to the final this season, after we lost a few players – we gathered more Springboks like Evan (Roos) and Deon (Fourie), and Marvin (Orie) became a Springbok again – so it’s an incredible feeling for us.

“The only reason we want to play the final in Cape Town is for the people and the revenue. It’s incredibly special because, and this might be silly, but we will be the only team to have played two finals. It will probably change next year.”

Not smooth sailing

Despite enjoying a comfortable 18-point win over Connacht in the semi, it was not all smooth sailing for the Stormers with their Irish challengers well in the game until the final few minutes when they pulled away with two late tries.

Connacht had taken a shock 8-0 lead before the Stormers kicked into gear, moving 24-8 up, with the visitors then staying in the fight at 24-20 midway through the second half and 31-25 going into the final five minutes, to keep the Stormers management on their toes.

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“Like us, they have a massive amount of fight. And they play a very clever form of rugby. They got too close for comfort. We thought we could break them, but they never lied down,” explained Dobson.

“These Irish teams are high possession teams and it is hard to get the ball off them. We knew they would go through phases.

“They couldn’t kick distance against us, you saw that when we scored tries. They couldn’t really kick. We wanted to dominate far more territorially and I think we were a bit loose with the ball as well.

“Even though we were only four points ahead with 15 to go, I didn’t think we were going to lose. We knew we would have to make eight tackle sets. We did that, it was just frustrating to give away those penalties (to keep them in the game).”