Munster head coach Graham Rowntree and his troops are in a confident mood ahead of their United Rugby Championship (URC) final against the Stormers in Cape Town on May 27.
The Munstermen caused a huge upset when they sealed a 16-15 victory over Leinster in an epic showdown at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Earlier, another Irish side Connacht put up a brave performance against the Stormers in Cape Town before the defending champions notched a 43-25 victory.
Fine record against the Stormers
Although the Stormers will have homeground advantage in the final, they are yet to beat Munster in the URC after losing both previous league matches between these sides – in the 2021/22 season at Thomond Park and during the current campaign in Cape Town last month.
That means they will have their tails up ahead of their upcoming encounter against John Dobson’s charges.
“We go to Cape Town with belief,” Rowntree said after their win over Leinster.
“This group won’t give in and we have come through some fires in the last few weeks. We go to Cape Town and it will be our sixth away game on the bounce, and that’s when we are finding out about people.
“Our game is still growing. We are finding out about people. Peter (O’Mahony) spoke really well in the dressing room about this not being our final tonight.
“I said to the group in the week that 25 days ago we were paranoid about European qualification (because of their log position) but then we got to a semi-final, and now we are in a final.”
Munster’s 26-24 victory over the Stormers in Cape Town last month ended an unbeaten home run for the champions which stretched back to December 2021.
Since then, the Irish province drew 22-22 with the Sharks in Durban, claimed a 14-5 win over Glasgow Warriors in their URC quarter-final at Scotstoun and clinched their narrow triumph over arch rivals Leinster at the weekend.
Although their triumph over Leinster was an emotional one, Rowntree is determined for his side to put that result behind them quickly and to focus on seeing off the Stormers again
“This can’t be our final,” he told the Irish Independent.
Stormers out for revenge
Rowntree warned his players that the Stormers would be out to avenge their previous defeat against them but said that result would be a tremendous boost for his side.
“Looking at how we broke them (the Stormers) down and dealt with their power game [will help], but they’ll be better than that night,” he added.
“They’ll be battle-hardened themselves, so it will be a real challenge for us.”
READ MORE: United Rugby Championship Team of the Week: Magnificent Munster feature prominently along with magical Manie Libbok
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