Stormers 'desperate' ahead of historic final in front of 55 000: 'The city has embraced rugby'

The Stormers, on the verge of back-to-back United Rugby Championship (URC) titles, are "desperate" not to let the people of Cape Town down in Saturday's final against Munster at DHL Stadium.

That was the strong message from head coach John Dobson on Friday.

The match - the second URC final in as many seasons in Cape Town - will be played in front of a capacity crowd of 55 000. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, last year's capacity was capped at just over 30 000.

A large travelling group of Munster supporters - understood to be in the region of 2 500 - are also in the city.

It promises to be one of the most famous days in the history of South African franchise rugby, and while Dobson stressed that the Stormers could be proud of their efforts this season regardless of which way the final goes, he acknowledged having that mentality was easier said than done.

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"I feel like we had a good, normal week, and I haven't felt like there have been too many distractions. Our plans for the game are good," said Dobson at his stadium press conference on Friday, with the URC trophy to his right.

"The tough one is that we have this mission, which I have talked enough about in the last while, and this vision with what we want to do with rugby in Cape Town.

"To a large degree, we have already achieved that. I'm trying to understand that logic: whatever happens tomorrow, we have done our job and achieved what we set out to at the start of the season.

"When we wrote our goal list, it wasn't to retain the URC trophy.

"But that's a lot easier said in practice. The truth is we are desperate to win tomorrow. It would feel like a hollow achievement of goals if we didn't, so that cold logic has given way to