Dobson's boys v Men in Black: yes, you'd pay to see it

The ethos of "WP rugby" ... few would dispute that it has been best exhibited in professional times by, respectively, the Stormers team of 1999 and the thriving current side under the tutelage of John Dobson.

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Combining charisma and enterprise with a healthy run of green ticks in the win column isn’t an easy balance to strike and, as that relatively fleeting stint of Super Rugby-era enthrallment beneath Table Mountain nearly quarter of a century ago confirmed, it doesn’t even guarantee you something for the cabinet.

That’s already one major point of difference between the sides of then and now: whereas the Steven Kitshoff-led troops of today already hold the United Rugby Championship trophy and defend it in a second consecutive final this Saturday, the much-hyped team of '99 - has there ever been such a sense of rugby mania in the Mother City? - came up disappointingly short at the semi-final stage of the Super 12 that year.

Some would argue that the wheels already began to become a wee bit loose on that Alan Solomons-coached outfit when captain and youthful pin-up figure Bob Skinstad, a wonderful game-breaker, badly damaged a knee in a car crash in the afterglow of a fine 28-19 home victory over the Crusaders before a sell-out 48,000 Newlands crowd in round eight.

Which team from the two eras should be deemed better?

I don’t believe you can make any credible judgement, however much fun the exercise may be.

Just for one thing, the team of 1999 (who had made a significant, strategic marketing switch to all-black kit) played in a veritable heyday period for three-nation franchise rugby in the southern hemisphere, whereas the class of 2022/23 are entrenched in