It will be the Stormers and the Bulls in the inaugural United Rugby Championship final at Cape Town Stadium this Saturday.
This after the two South African giants knocked out Ireland’s Leinster and Ulster on Friday and Saturday respectively to make it an all-SA affair in the decider.
Coach Jake White’s Bulls booked their place in the final first, stunning the rugby world with a hard-fought 27-26 win over Leinster in Dublin on Friday.
The Stormers then needed a Warrick Gelant try at the death and a nerve-racking conversion by Manie Libbok to beat Ulster 17-15 to book their return to Cape Town Stadium this week.
After pinning down a spot in the final at the death, Stormers coach John Dobson says: “It’s surreal, can’t believe it. The Bulls were outstanding last night, so it was really important for us to get the result.
“It would have been really disappointing with all the hard work we put in, if we weren’t there [in the final]. So it was very important for us.”
While they got through in the end against Ulster, Dobson knows the Stormers have to improve a lot if they want to beat the Bulls this week.
He says: “There is so much for us to fix. We don’t have to worry about these guys turning up [for the final].
“They turn up for every single game. It’s more about trying to get the stuff right that we got wrong [against Ulster]. There are some big learnings from this game.”
The Stormers, meanwhile, will have to make-do without the tournament’s leading try scorer Leolin Zas, after he suffered a leg injury in the Ulster clash.
DHL Stormers 17-15 Ulster
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) June 11, 2022
😬 Late drama at DHL Stadium
🏡 Home Final next week
🗣️ Faithful carried them home
🤩 Ready for the big show#STOvULS #iamastormer #dhldelivers @Vodacom #URChttps://t.co/UOn29Zbzg7
Of Zas, Dobson adds: “Zas is probably one of our main strikers, he won’t play next week - there’s no question.”