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Dubbed the biggest awards show of the year, Kfm 94.5 invited the people of Cape Town to vote across 30 categories for the 2022 Best of the Cape Awards. No funny business, just you choosing the Mother City’s finest. And Cape {town} Etc is adding to the gees by proudly supporting each winner.

Stay tuned: over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing a full feature story on each of your favourites. Nothing beats a stadium full of blue (and not the Pretoria kind). This is Cape Town’s ‘Best Professional Sports Team’:

The best professional sports team winner: DHL Stormers

We’re beyond excited that rugby is back in action after what was a very long, sport-less lockdown. It should never have been legal to keep South Africans from a good game of rugga for that long – especially in Cape Town: the stomping ground of the greatest supporters on Earth, and now, ‘best professional sports team’ to match. DHL Stormers jou lekker ding.

A cracking 2022 for Stormers fans:

The DHL Stormers treated fans this year in the scintillating URC campaign, which was capped off with a sweet victory against the Vodacom Bulls in the final.

The journey: 

Formerly known as the Pro14, the competition’s name changed to the United Rugby Championship in 2021 following the inclusion of four South African sides – one being the DHL Stormers.

In a tough competition, often dominated by Irish sides, three of the four newly included South African teams, with the Lions missing out, narrowly and surprisingly made it into the top eight – meaning all three teams were eligible to continue the tournament and advance to the knockout stages.

The Stormers comfortably beat Edinburgh 28-17 in their quarter-final match to set up a semi-final clash against a strong Ulster side in Cape Town.

In a much tighter semi-final affair, Stormers fly-half Manie Libbok slotted an overtime conversion to clinch a narrow 17-15 victory over Ulster and book their place in the final. All eyes then moved over to the Bulls’ semi-final matchup against a very strong and heavily favoured Leinster side to determine whether the Stormers would stay in Cape Town for the final, or travel all the way to Ireland to face Leinster.

Manie Libbok. Picture: SA Rugby Magazine

After pulling off the greatest upset of the tournament by beating Leinster 27-26, The Bulls would now travel to Cape Town to face the Stormers. Trailing at half-time, the Stormers pulled a second-half blitz out the bag to come back from behind and win 18-13, crowing them the URC champions.

The coach:

Affectionately known as ‘Dobbo’, John Dobson was promoted to head coach of the Stormers back in 2019 and has enjoyed a successful stint since. 

Dobson first coached UCT, taking Ikeys to two finals and a semi-final during his three years in charge, followed by four seasons coaching the Western Province u21 side. In 2015, he was named the Western Province head coach, taking over from Allister Coetzee, and continued as such until he was named head coach of the Stormers.

Dobbo. Picture: SA Rugby Magazine

The URC player of the season:

Evan Roos, the 22-year-old No.8, lit the URC on fire with his massive carries and incredible work ethic, earning him multiple awards: Vodacom Fans’ Player of the Season, Next-Gen Player of the Season, a place in the Dream Team, and most prestigious of all, URC Player of the Season.

Roos’ accolades were a result of an unrelenting work ethic, as backed by stats: he topped the charts for most carries, most successful carries and defenders beaten. He also chipped in with six tries for good measure.

Evan Roos. Picture: SA Rugby Magazine

United in blue:

Stormers fans are really the best in the world. Accolades aside, what we love most about this team is its ability to bring Cape Town together.

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DHL Stormers’ details:

  • Website: thestormers.com
  • DHL stadium: Fritz Sonnenberg Rd, Green Point, Cape Town 

The finalists in this category were: 

  • Cape Town City FC
  • DHL Stormers
  • Jean-marc Johannes
  • Lloyd Harris
  • Stellenbosch FC

The 2021 winner of this category: DHL Stormers

Up next:

Tune into Kfm 94.5, visit capetownetc.com, and follow @capetownetc on social media to discover more about your favourite people, places, experiences and more.

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Also read:

The best amateur sports club in Cape Town, voted by locals

Picture: DHL Stormers / online

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