Rugby
Stormers vs Munster: Former Welsh Legend Gives His Predictions
What should fans expect from the Stormers vs Munster URC final? Tom Shanklin weighs in.
Munster travel to Cape Town for their sixth successive away fixture, with the knowledge they beat the defending Champions on their home turf 24-26 last month and seeking their first trophy title since 2011. After two meetings, the Stormers are yet to beat Munster in the URC, but do have the history of winning their first-ever URC title in 2022 when they beat the Bulls at the DHL Stadium.
Calling the URC Final, former Wales international Tom Shanklin said: “It will be like an international – South Africa against Ireland. For all rugby fans, whoever you support, this is a must-watch fixture. There is great rugby talent on show with some of the best players in South Africa against some of the best Irish players, the quality of rugby will be great. The knock-out stages of the URC have been amazing. No one would have called this finale to the competition. Leinster were top-seeded, won the league stages by miles – more than 10 points – but it just shows anything can happen in play-off rugby.
“The level of rugby on show will be immense, the standards massively increase once you get to knock-out rugby. It’s all or nothing. Leinster v Munster in the semi-final was one of the games of the season, it was so close all the way through but the levels of intensity were a whole other level.”
He added that Munster will have a tough job in a packed DHL Stadium with home support. “It’s a tough place to go and when you play rugby you do feed off the noise from your supporters, so Munster has to create some sort of atmosphere themselves and quieten the South African crowd.”
“You have two form teams that are worthy of this Final. Munster have had to do it the harder way but this opportunity is huge for them, they have self-belief having beaten Stormers at home so recently and after beating Leinster at the Aviva. It’s taken Munster a while to get their act together this season, but Graham Rowntree has got his team peaking at the right time. He has a pretty much full-strength team which he’ll need, but they are in a really great place right now.
“The Stormers have had a strong season, everything has pretty much gone to plan for them minus a couple of blips. They have such a strong pack and a formidable front row, with one of the world’s best in prop Frans Malherbe. It’s the South African way, strength-based around the scrum which is so important to the nation, as it was in the 2019 World Cup.
“Plus Stormers have pace in the back three. They’re not a one-dimensional team, just look at the tries they have scored. They’re high in off-loading, they want to play with pace and width and when you have someone as lively as Manie Libbok at 10 – there’s no point him sitting in the pocket and playing a territory game, his strength is his running game. He is key to this Stormers side and just makes them tick – massively.”
Rugby fans can follow every URC match live on the Viaplay streaming service and SuperSport.
