Beingcrowned the South African Shield winners in the United Rugby Championship has liberated the elated DHL Stormers from a dark era in theirhistory.

DHLStormers coach John Dobson, in expressing the squad’s relief at getting thelast-minute win against Scarlets that ensured the Stormers top spot in the SAShield, dedicated the league season’s silverware to the people of the WesternCape.

“Winningthe SA Shield gave us a sense of massive relief that we’ve restored some faithand pride in the jersey,” Dobson told the United Rugby Championship. “It means a lot to us, probably more than to some other teams given the trialsand tribulations we’ve been through here.”

“WesternProvince is a very proud union with a remarkable history,” said Dobson. “Werepresent this amazing group of people in the Western Cape across demographicsincluding race, religion and working class. It’s been tough for them to seewhat’s been going on here and giving them something to smile about was soimportant to us.”

Onewin from their first five matches, including defeats against Benetton, Dragonsand the Emirates Lions, made for gloomy headlines in Cape Town.

ButDobson rallied his troops, some of whom had made financial sacrifices to staywith the team, and the DHL Stormers went on a winning spree in which they lostjust one of their last 13 matches.

“Wehadn’t won a Currie Cup since 2017 and I suppose last year people were talkingabout the ‘Big Two’, the Cell C Sharks and Vodacom Bulls, which they are interms of spending power,” the DHL Stormers coach said.  “It’s special forus how we did in the local derbies because we didn’t lose against the VodacomBulls or Cell C Sharks. The Vodacom Bulls have won a lot of trophies, so for usto be the top SA team is really special for us.

“I’mreally pleased for the players who stuck with us and believed in the project -there were big names, like Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe, Scarra Ntubeni,Salmaan Moerat, and Damian Willemse who turned down massive offers fromelsewhere, and then some of the lesser known guys who stuck with us when theyhad other offers.’

WhileDobson is pleased the DHL Stormers’ story has taken a sharp turn for thebetter, the SA champions are determined to end this chapter with pages ofexciting Play-Offs prose.