The Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarter-final between the DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls at Cape Town Stadium will be a blockbuster sell-out, predicts MARK KEOHANE.
Defending champions, the Stormers have an impressive 5-0 winning record over the Bulls in the URC, including last season’s inaugural final, making for another thrilling installment of the north-south derby on Saturday.
The men from Pretoria are eager to redeem themselves after their previous losses to the Stormers in the competition, while the Capetonians will be looking to maintain their winning streak.
In his TimesLIVE column, Keohane suggests that the passion and dedication from supporters will add to the intensity on the field, making it a spectacle that cannot be missed.
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With at least 45,000 supporters expected to fill the venue in the shadow of Table Mountain, he argues that fans and the teams can take full advantage after Covid lockdown measures detracted from the atmosphere during the 2021-22 URC finale.
“Now there are no restrictions, the Stormers have consistently played brilliant attacking rugby and the Bulls, in their final two league matches have scored 140 points, and the rugby public have voted with their wallets as much as their hearts and recognised the occasion will match the hype,” Keohane writes.
“It shows it can be done. Teams, through playing style and results, can get supporters back into stadiums. Players, with their individual personas, can be those ambassadors and influencers rugby lovers want to see in the flesh.
“This is one of those matches where you sacrifice something and dent the wallet. It is a match that will live up to the hype and it is a match that will show the rest of the world that South Africa’s two best teams can still fill a stadium, even in these dire economic times.”
The @BlueBullsRugby have never beaten the Stormers in the @Vodacom #URC, and it's going to stay that way when they collide in the quarter-final at DHL Stadium, according to @mark_keohane and Zels. pic.twitter.com/D0L9lXKKF5
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) May 5, 2023
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