Gutsy Stormers break their curse, claim URC title after fairy tale season

The curse is broken.

For the best part of a decade the Stormers were masters of racking up inconsequential silverware and accolades in Super Rugby, winning conferences and shields before imploding in the knockouts when the stakes were at their highest.

But on a damp Saturday evening in front of a boisterous, capacity crowd of 31 000 at the Cape Town Stadium, John Dobson's troops showed that they had turned a new leaf in South African rugby's new chapter in Europe, claiming the first United Rugby Championship (URC) title on offer by virtue of 18-13 win over the Bulls.

AS IT HAPPENED | Stormers 18-13 Bulls

Some might argue that the Stormers continued their season-long habit of pulling games out of the fire - particularly taking into consideration that they were nowhere in the first 30 minutes of this match - but that would be doing a gutsy second half showing an injustice.

Foiled initially by a Bulls combination that dominated territory, the Stormers held the upper hand in the collisions and consequently created more opportunities. The hosts also took heart from a subtle switch in momentum in the final 10 minutes of the opening half.

It came from a punchy Deon Fourie run that suddenly found a lot more purpose after blindsider Hacjivah Dayimani fired a bullet-like pass to set the backline on their way.

Fullback Warrick Gelant lost the ball in contact, but the die was cast.

Shortly afterwards, flyhalf Manie Libbok got the Stormers on the board with a penalty after a nervy miss from a relatively easy angle a few moments earlier.

That still meant a 7-3 deficit at half-time though they could be buoyed by staying in contention when they probably shouldn't have been.

In fact, even Bulls pivot Chris Smith's successful three-pointer three