Cape Town — Although they fought back in the second half, the Stormers failed to shut Munster down up front and in the backline to secure back-to-back United Rugby Championship titles.
IOL Sport's Leighton Koopman looks at five things that went against the home team at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday after they lost 19-14 in the final.
Failure to launch from a flying start
After an opening try in the first few minutes, thanks to flyhalf Manie Libbok's interception, the Stormers failed to push on from there to create scoreboard pressure on Munster early on.
Libbok intercepted brilliantly and ran over 50 meters to score, much to the delight of the 55 000-odd crowd.
And after that try, the Stormers should have launched their game, but they just could not kick on from the early score. In fact, it was Munster that had the upper hand in the first half and starved the home team of possession and territory.
They scored two good tries to take the advantage and lead after 40 minutes.
Defence caught slipping
They've been very good on defence, especially when it comes to scrambling. But Munster found a way to circumvent the stopping power of the Stormers on defence.
Maybe the wet and muddy field played a bigger role in the way the home team defended. Where they are normally spot on with their tackles, especially double hits, things did not go to plan on Saturday.
Munster beat a total of 34 defenders in the match, that says a lot about the tackling of the Stormers. According to URC statistics, the Cape side made 191 tackles and missed 34 of them. And if you want to win a final, you have to make your hits and dominate them.
A nullified scrum and maul.
Normally in a close game, the Stormers will use their scrum and maul to get the upper hand, especially if the backline is not firing on all cylinders. But on Saturday, their maul and scrum were for most of the game neutralised by the Red Army.
They defended the Stormers' maul pretty well and rendered it mostly ineffective, especially in the dying minutes when the home team went looking for a winning try.
There was also some strong scrummaging on the side of Munster, although the Stormers did get a reward for some scrums.
The muddy field made this part of the game especially tricky, with the more fancied home team not really getting the reward in this facet.
In between the game plans
While the Stormers tried to play their flashy brand of rugby for the occasion, they should probably have adapted to what the conditions asked of them to possibly secure a victory.
With players slipping and sliding in tackles, and the handling of the ball being made difficult by the wet and muddy field, they should maybe have changed their plans for Munster a bit.
Libbok's first try was a flashy one thanks to the rush defence that created the opportunity for the intercept, but running and pop-passing the ball at almost every chance was a risky play.
At times it looked good on the field when they did string some passes together, but a less risky play was probably more fitting under the circumstances.
Players did not rise to the occasion
A handful of the Stormers players had decent outings, but certain players who the team depended on, did not find their rhythm at all. Libbok looked good for his score, but it was just not his night on Saturday, especially with his team on the attack.
The same can be said for centres Ruhan Nel and Dan du Plessis who had trouble containing the elusive Malakai Fekitoa and Antoine Frisch, their direct opponents.
Fekitoa beat more than a handful of defenders when he went on the run, while Frisch constantly looked to penetrate the Stormers' defence with his running.
Damian Willemse also failed to spark his team into life from the fullback position.
The home team were outplayed almost everywhere on the field, and Munster deserve credit for the way they shut the dangerous Stormers players down.
IOL Sport