Jon Cardinelli reports from Cape Town Stadium

GRAHAM ROWNTREE SAYS that the heavy Champions Cup defeat to the Sharks prepared Munster to secure a monumental victory over the Stormers in Cape Town.

Munster claimed a 26-24 bonus-point win against the Stormers on Saturday to become the first team to beat the Cape-based side at home in nearly two years, and the first from the northern hemisphere to do so.

With one league match remaining, they have cemented a spot in the United Rugby Championship playoffs – and today’s victory also virtually secured their place in next season’s Champions Cup.

Few would have predicted the result. Two weeks ago, the Sharks thrashed Munster 50-35 in the round-of-16 playoff stage in Durban. After that match, Rowntree lamented his side’s performance up front.

In the immediate aftermath of the win in Cape Town on Saturday, however, Rowntree was signing a different tune. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the visitors’ performance was at the set piece.

Munster scored two early tries through their rolling maul and, despite a Stormers fightback, showed their mettle to hang on for a memorable win. In the space of a fortnight, they have improved dramatically.

“This result was huge for us,” Rowntree said. “We had frank conversations after that game against the Sharks. They taught us a few lessons at the breakdown and set pieces, and we knew we would have to up our game there before facing the Stormers.

We spoke about making a statement in the first 15 minutes, and when we scored those two maul tries, it showed how much we meant business. That start was huge.

Rowntree said that the team will take a lot of confidence out of this performance ahead of their next fixture against the Sharks. The Durban-based side need to win next week’s game to boost their own playoff prospects.

“The performance against the Stormers… that showed that we can beat teams like this. The South African sides are traditionally the power teams, and we have a lot of respect for how they play. I’m immensely proud of the way we started, and then the way we stayed in the fight at the end.”

By contrast, Stormers coach John Dobson was bitterly disappointed with the outcome of Saturday’s match.

Ulster’s win over the Dragons sees them finishing the round in second place in the standings – one log point ahead of the Stormers. With Munster winning in Cape Town, Ulster may end up hosting a potential semi-final, and the defending champions may be forced to travel overseas.

“Our maul defence was really poor,” Dobson said. Even though the Stormers scored a late try to earn two bonus points, the coach refused to view that late surge as a consolation.

“There’s no silver lining today. It’s a major disappointment, full stop.”