URC final defeat could be blessing in disguise for Stormers

Defeat for the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC) final could end up being a blessing in disguise and could kick them on to new heights in the coming seasons.

The hosts were devastated when Munster clinched a breathless 19-14 win at a sold out Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night, to ensure that the Stormers would not retain the title they won last season.

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Despite the heartbreak and massive disappointment of losing their title, the defeat may just spur the Stormers on going forward.

A second title in a row, having just joined the URC, might have made a few players complacent and could have instilled a bad sense of superiority in the squad.

Coach John Dobson, along with his team, certainly wouldn’t have stood for that kind of thinking, but players may have still had those thoughts inside which could have led to them underestimating the difficulty of the competition next season.

Incredible accomplishment

It is already an incredible accomplishment that the Stormers managed to win the inaugural tournament and host two successive finals in Cape Town, with a number of journalists after the match joking that they would see their colleagues back in the Mother City again next year.

Instead the Stormers can now take a look at where they went wrong, work on their flaws and come back an even stronger and more threatening team.

With the recent news that South African franchises will be receiving a bigger budget, which will increase over the next two seasons, the Stormers can also use the investment to start building a squad that will be able to challenge on the Champions Cup front as well.

They will essentially have to try and build a squad where they have a ‘B’ team that is capable of competing in the URC, if their ‘A’ team players need a break after Champions Cup commitments.

This isn’t something that will happen overnight, and will probably take a few seasons to get right.

But the Stormers can use this heartbreak to build and improve and target another strong season in the URC.