Cape Town - Dear John Dobson,
Let's start at the very beginning. Thank You “Dobbo”. You and your Stormers team have put smiles on the faces of Capetonians again.
After two years of enduring a pandemic that knocked us right in the gut like Morne du Plessis' tackle on Naas Botha all those years ago, there is now something to look forward to with renewed optimism.
We may not be sitting alongside some of our loved ones that formed the heart and spirit of that famous old ground in Boundary Road anymore, but they are surely looking down from above on your shiny new home with so much joy at what has already been achieved. None more so than “Dobbo Senior”, your reverent late father Paul.
Rugby is ingrained into this city's DNA. Table Mountain, Muizenberg beach, New Year's cricket Test, the gatsby and Western Province-Stormers rugby.
There's long been a saying that Capetonians turn to the back pages before they even read the front pages. And this is even more evident in today's social media age where #Stormers has been trending for weeks.
We know all about the administrative mess that has engulfed WP Rugby. For your team to have side-stepped this political minefield required the fleet-footedness of a favourite Stormers son Cheslin Kolbe.
Perhaps it's helped that you're not your average rugby coach and that being armed with a law degree, an MBA and an MA in creative writing provided you with the tools to help “immunise” your team from the boardroom's misgivings.
And that's just off the field. The high-profile departures of Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and fellow Bok Bongi Mbonombi to the Sharks, alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit (Japan) and Edwill van der Merwe (Lions) would have been a further setback.
Kolisi's move, in particular, would have touched you personally even in this modern era of professionalism. The Bok captain is not just a World Cup-winning commodity to you that can be sold to the highest bidder.
You were there when he arrived in Cape Town all those years ago as a wide-eyed youngster from Zwide and guided him on the path to where he is now. Long before Roc Nation, Rachel and everything else that has since come along.
There's no doubt that you could have left, too. Harlequins came calling. And nobody would have begrudged you accepting the sterling offer. It was the easy option.
But instead, you opted for the tough road because blue and white oozes through your veins. From your self-acknowledged privileged days at Bishops, learning the true essence of running rugby under the tutelage of the legendary Basil Bey, through to broadening your horizons during your club life at UCT's Ikeys where you embraced the cultures of the “Tiere” at Tygerberg RFC in Ravensmead, the “Kriefgat” of Collegians in Lentegeur and Schotsche Kloof-Walmers RFC at “The Track”.
It's ironic that you have helped transform the neighbouring DHL Stadium - just a stone's throw away from SKW's home - into a similar fortress where visiting teams have simply found no way through.
The discovery of new heroes such as Evan Roos and Hacjivah Dayimani along with getting stalwarts such as Deon Fourie, Frans Malherbe, Scarra Ntubeni, Herschelle Jantjies and Damian Willemse to commit their immediate future to the Stormers is a testament to the positive environment that you and your entire backroom staff have created.
Willemse playing - and like the way he did - with a compression fracture on his left elbow in the semi-final last week speaks volumes for the spirit within this Stormers unit.
There is, though, one hurdle left.
And almighty one at that. The Bulls, under Jake White, are a phenomenal challenge. Their performance last week in Dublin to beat Leinster was simply epic.
But Dobbo, the rugby gods are with you. How else would you explain Manie Libbok's touchline conversion after the hooter when he's missed everything all day?
Being the lover of literature that you are, I'm going to leave you with a quote from American author Laini Taylor.
“Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there's no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.”
I remember the pain after Soweto 2010, but I'm not looking to avenge that defeat.
Instead I'll be back in the bleachers again on Saturday, along with the other Stormers faithful, just happy that you've allowed us to feel that little bit of magic again.
Yours sincerely,
@ZaahierAdams