Cape Town — The decision by the United Rugby Championship and the Stormers to have children involved in the Grand Final medal ceremony was well-received world wide.
After the all-South African final between the Stormers and the Bulls, which the hosts won 18-13 at a wet Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night, the Stormers lined up in front of a group of kids to receive their winners’ medals.
In a proper game of two halves, the Stormers came back from being 3-7 down at half time.
While the Bulls controlled the opening 30 minutes of the encounter, they couldn’t convert their opportunities into points, other than a solo try by Harold Vorster in the second minute. After the break, the Stormers produced a massive display in the second half to sink the Pretoria side.
After the game, the URC shared a video on Twitter showing prop Neethling Fouche bowing down to have his medal put around his neck by a young boy. The video, captioned ‘Unity’, had close to 160 000 views on Monday afternoon.
Unity 🤝#URC | #STOvBUL | #AllFor1 | @THESTORMERS pic.twitter.com/GBBjUtsUJB
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) June 19, 2022
The Stormers also shared a picture of the ceremony, this time showing speedster Seabelo Senatla on his knees, with a different boy giving him his medal.
The caption read: “Humbled by the outpouring of love that our team has received. This was about so much more than a rugby match. ⛈️💙🤍”
Humbled by the outpouring of love that our team has received. This was about so much more than a rugby match. ⛈️💙🤍#iamastormer #dhldelivers @Vodacom #URC pic.twitter.com/gC8JL4Ty91
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) June 20, 2022
Many fans praised the concept of the medal ceremony and called for it to also feature next season.
IOL Sport