The Stormers made history on Saturday to win the inaugural United Rugby Championship title, by beating the Bulls 18-13 in the final.
The last team standing at Cape Town Stadium in the first ever north-south franchise tournament which saw 16 teams compete from South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Wales, the Stormers bagged the franchise’s first gold in 22 years.
Established in 1998, the Stormers’ previous best was a 2010 Super Rugby final appearance - a match they lost to the Bulls.
But on Saturday, they clawed their way back from 10-3 down to beat the Bulls in a hard-fought encounter.
The victory was the Stormers’ 11th in a row, with captain Steven Kitshoff praising the brotherhood within the team for their success in 2022.
Given no chance of winning the tournament at the start of the campaign, Kitshoff says: “The never-say-die attitude is one of the great characteristics of this team.
It's time for a Grand Final story from Deon Fourie 📚#URC | #STOvBUL | #AllFor1 | @THESTORMERS | @Springboks pic.twitter.com/lPtfKL3slP
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) June 19, 2022
“There is great care and love within the team and the guys are willing to go the extra mile for you.
“A lot of that has to do with Dobbo [coach John Dobson] and his team socials where the guys actually bond a bit. There’s a true friendship among each other in the team, and you can see that in the game also.
“When times get tough, you can see guys going the extra mile. Do the extra hard yards to make sure the team gets a good result.”
⚡️ @THESTORMERS ARE THE URC CHAMPIONS 🏆#URC | #STOvBUL | #AllFor1 pic.twitter.com/2QIQjCXmBv
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) June 18, 2022
Winless after the first three matches of the campaign, the Stormers also lost their first match to the Lions at Cape Town Stadium.
Throughout the season, though, they vowed to improve and when they lost 19-17 to Connacht on February 26, they never looked back.
The fight for each other became real, as they went on a 11-match winning streak - culminating in an epic final win over the Bulls that will have Cape Town smiling… at least until the start of the next URC season.
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO WIN THE URC 1 GRAND FINAL 🤩#URC | #STOvBUL | #AllFor1 | @THESTORMERS pic.twitter.com/Eyrzw3LLnx
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) June 18, 2022