POLL | Will the Stormers retain their United Rugby Championship crown?

The Stormers will be gunning to retain the United Rugby Championship title when they square off against Munster on Saturday in the competition's final.

The Stormers, who beat the Bulls in last year's final, saw off Connacht 43-25 in the semis. Munster booked their place in the final with a nail-biting 16-15 win over Leinster two weeks ago.

The last time the two teams met in April, Munster registered a 26-24 victory in Cape Town, and the Irish side are the only team the Stormers haven’t beaten in the URC.

Former Munster flanker Alan Quinlan has put the Stormers as favourites to lift the trophy at the Cape Town Stadium, but said Munster should not be underestimated.

“Munster have shown a lot of character and resilience to get back to where they have got. The rugby they have played in the past weeks has encouraged Munster fans to believe they can again challenge for trophies,” he told TimesLIVE.

It is a second consecutive home final for the Stormers and Cape Town Stadium is expected to be a sea of blue.

About 5,000 Munster supporters will descend on the Mother City, and a full house of 55,000 spectators is expected at the stadium.

“The 55,000 tickets sold for the grand final this weekend will see the figure for the play-off games top more than 200,000 and set a new overall season record of 1,632,114.

“With fans responding to the appeal of the URC average attendances have grown to just shy of 10,000 (9,893) per match for the regular season, which is the highest average the league has recorded. All 16 teams in the URC experienced an increase in average attendance from the 2021/22 season with overall match attendance up 36%,” said organisers.