Cape Town - Stormers captain Steven Kitshoff says that knowing what was at stake sparked them to overcome a tough period in their United Rugby Championship (URC) semi-final victory over Ulster at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
The Irish side led 15-10 at the half-time break and played with intent in the second half, putting the hosts under pressure for large parts of the second 40 minutes.
The Stormers camped in Ulster’s 22-metre area for an extended period in the final quarter and came close to scoring a number of times.
They finally got rewarded when a long skip pass put fullback Warrick Gelant away for the score-levelling try (15-15) in the last minute, with flyhalf Manie Libbok making no mistake with the conversion to seal a 17-15 win.
After the game, coach John Dobson described hosting an allSouth African final as “surreal”, while he also went over what he feels they need to fix before their Cape Town final against the Bulls on Saturday.
The URC South African Shieldwinning Stormers weren’t good against the Irish side, but things weren’t made any easier for them by the officials.
Despite their struggles, they held it together and withstood massive pressure from Ulster to come away with the win.
Kitshoff praised the character his team showed towards the end of the game.
“I think in the last 10 minutes, we showed absolutely brilliant character,” Kitshoff said after the game.
“I think guys realised what was at stake and somehow got the energy and motivation to come away with the win.
“I am extremely proud.”
While celebrations were in order, Kitshoff added that they will waste no time in getting ready for the battle against their rivals.
“We’ll have a couple of beers tonight (Saturday), and then on Monday, when we get back, we’ll do our review and start preparing for the Bulls. I think then the guys will start realising how important this game is.”
On Friday night, the Bulls defied the odds and produced an upset of note when they defeated European giants Leinster 27-26.
It was a much more polished performance from the team from Pretoria, compared to the Capetonians in their semi-final. The Bulls’ power game was one of their strengths, while Leinster also made some uncharacteristic mistakes.
With that in mind, the Stormers won’t need any motivation to be at their absolute best when they host the inaugural URC final this Saturday.
@WynonaLouw