Cape Town - All roads lead to Cape Town this week for the United Rugby Championship final between the Stormers and Bulls at DHL Stadium on Saturday at 7:30pm.
The excitement is fever-pitch ahead of the all South African derby between the traditional rivals.
Our rugby panellists Ashfak Mohamed, Mike Greenaway and Wynona along with host Zaahier Adams certainly cannot contain themselves in this week’s IOL Sport Show.
They are still buzzing after the semi-finals where the Bulls pulled off an astonishing victory over defending champions, Leinster, in their own backyard in Dublin, while the Stormers completed a snatch-and-grab over another Irish team, Munster, at Cape Town Stadium.
Stormers coach John Dobson was equally excited this week with the spectacle that South African rugby is going to show off to the world this week.
“The final is important because of how meaningful it is,” Dobson told reporters. “This is not about me, it is about the region and the rugby supporters and stakeholders in the region, the Stormers brand, and keeping Cape Town smiling, which has been one of the motivators for our entire campaign.
“We mustn’t dumb the rivalry down. The Stormers against the Bulls is the cherry on the top, it has always been the big game of the season, and having a trophy to play for is just the cherry on the top. The Stormers versus the Bulls is part of our fibre.
“The pride in that game means so much for us. The trophy is almost incidental in this case. Neither team would like to see the other team lift the trophy, but it feels like a normal derby to us, a proper bragging-rights South African derby. It would be different if we were playing Leinster or something like that. There is just so much history in this rivalry,” he added.
IOL Sport