South African rugby legends and Hollywoodbets Brand Ambassadors, Odwa and Akona Ndungane share their thoughts ahead of Saturday’s URC final between the Stormers and Munster.
The Cape Town Stadium will be a sea of blue and white on Saturday when the Stormers attempt to defend their URC title.
Munster, who endured a horror start to the season, head to the Cape having overcome both Glasgow and Leinster away from home in the play offs. Can they go one step further and topple the reigning champions? It’s worth noting that they are the only side to have beaten Jon Dobson’s men at home in the URC this season. How they’d love to repeat the feat this time around.
Odwa Ndungane – who enjoyed plenty of success with both the Sharks and Springboks – reckons the Stormers will edge the contest, but warns that there’ll be no room for complacency against an ultra-confident Munster outfit.
“Munster come to Cape Town high on confidence having already beaten the Stormers in the Western Cape. They played well against Glasgow in the quarter-finals before doing something nobody expected them to do by beating Leinster in the semi-final. That run of games would have given them massive confidence. It’s shaping up to be an exciting final. The Stormers will be confident themselves after convincingly putting the Bulls away in the quarters before doing the same against Connacht in the semis,” he said.
“Deon Fourie and Marvin Orie are also back in the mix to bolster the hosts. I would definitely back the Stormers to claim back-to-back URC titles. My call is the Stormers. I see them winning by 12 points,” he added.
Akona – who bagged a couple of Super Rugby titles for the Bulls and a World Cup with the Boks – echoes his brother’s sentiments.
“Both teams deserve to be in the URC final. Munster have to be admired for making it this far. They didn’t have a good start to the season but fought well to make it to the playoffs. They played their quarter-final and the semi-final away from home and must play the final away. They should believe that they can win the final, having been the only team to beat the Stormers at DHL Stadium this season. It should be an interesting game.”
“The Stormers are on a good run with Manie Libbok’s form a big plus while Fourie’s and Orie’s returns will bolster the team. They have a great chance of going go back-to-back”, he told the Hollywoodbets Sports Blog.
The game kicks off at 18:30 at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday 27 May 2023.
