Sports fans love winners, which is why the Stormers on Saturday will smash the record for the biggest home attendance at the DHL Stadium for a provincial match.
Saturday’s United Rugby Championship quarterfinal will be played in front of at least 45,000 supporters. The hosts are hoping to hit the 50,000 mark by the 3pm kickoff.
Rugby fever is at an all-time high in Cape Town this week and it befits the occasion that the defending champions will be playing their biggest domestic rivals from the north in Jake White’s Bulls.
A year ago my son and I took to the cheap seats to watch the Stormers play the Bulls at the DHL Stadium. I say the cheap seats because they didn’t cost much, but it was at a time when you couldn’t give away tickets to get people back into the stadiums to watch rugby.
Covid was still an issue, economics and finance another issue and just getting to the stadiums another hassle. These were just some of the reasons supporters quoted as to why they would just watch from the comfort of their homes.
Home games, which should be a union’s treat, were nightmares, especially for a union like Western Province whose teams pay a rental to play every game at the DHL Stadium. The lack of crowds ate into the financial reality of hosting.
My son and I had been regulars once supporters were allowed back into stadiums and despite the restrictions of a stadium only being allowed a percentage of capacity, it was as if the regulations still existed. Having 5,000 in a 55,000 world-class stadium is absolutely uninspiring if you look for vibrancy, energy and a home ground advantage to feed off.
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.
It was initially a struggle in Cape Town to get past 6,000 for a home game, and when the Bulls came to town on April 9 2022, there was delight that the crowd doubled and the two teams produced a thrilling arm wrestle, no contradiction intended, as the Stormers won 19-17. Damian Willemse’s 70th minute drop goal was the decisive play of a match that could have gone either way.
The Stormers then went on a roll and when the Bulls came to town for the inaugural URC final, 31,000, the maximum crowd allowed to attend, were there to witness history in the Stormers’ first ever title.
The next time the Bulls came to town it was another type of history, with the match being played in the evening of December 23. South African supporters had never experienced summer rugby and not two days before Christmas, but 30,000 plus a few more were at the DHL Stadium.
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.
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.
Saturday’s showdown will showcase everything that is positive about South African rugby’s quality of players based in this country. It will be an occasion that speaks to the remarkable story of veteran Deon Fourie, the farewell of captain Steven Kitshoff, the power of Frans Malherbe, the back row bruisers in Elrigh Louw and Evan Roos, the dynamic skills of Hacjivah Dayimani, the pace of Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie and Seabelo Senatla, the physicality and pace of Leolin Zas and the magical hands and feet of Manie Libbok and (Damian) Willemse.
This is one of those matches 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.
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