Boring South Africans bash way to final? Stormers and Bulls stats show that's an insult

Arguably the biggest insult one could slap onto South Africa's finalists for Saturday's United Rugby Championship (URC) climax is to say that traditional, local brutishness brought them here.

That's patently not the case, especially for Jake White's Bulls, who are still sometimes dogged by the perception that they play conservatively and rely on strength.

In fact, various statistics paint a vivid picture of how compellingly the Stormers and Bulls have evolved their respective games over the course of the season.

The men from Loftus, expected by many to bash their way forward with the hoary pick-and-drive method, have completed the most off-loads in this season's tournament. 

Hot on their heels are the Stormers, who've made the most linebreaks and have beaten the most defenders bar Leinster.

Naturally, it's translated into a glut of points, the Bulls having scored 548 and the Capetonians 492.

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"As an outsider, it's been impressive. Both the Bulls and Stormers have scored a lot of tries and lead in the off-loads category," said Ulster and Ireland legend Tommy Bowe.

"There can be no doubt about the firepower we've seen from the South African players out wide. They're absolutely scintillating to watch, and I think that's taken a lot of the URC teams by surprise.

"Whenever they've come down to Africa, they might've expected the games to be a lot slower with an emphasis on the maul. But all of a sudden, particularly the likes of the Stormers seem to be able to score tries from anywhere on the park. It's been brilliant."

STORMERS

Points scored: 492 (6th)

Tries scored: 63 (5th)

Offloads: 219 (2nd)

Defenders beaten: 391 (2nd)

Clean breaks: 152 (1st)

BULLS

Poin