The match between Sale and Toulon was the last of a generally calming regular phase. Frankly ? We need to rethink the Champions Cup. And urgently…
The last match of the regular phase of the Champions Cup, played on Sunday evening between Sale and Toulon, was generally faithful to the first block of this transcontinental tournament. From this meeting contested in the polar cold of the north of England, we will therefore keep in mind a choppy, sluggish first hour and a poor technical level. A match where, to summarize, touches followed scrums for a long time in the general indifference of a half-full stadium. What strange feeling does the Champions Cup leave us with, at a time when rugby fans from all walks of life are preparing to eagerly dive into the 6 Nations Tournament?
A horrible counterfeit of this noble game
We could obviously pat ourselves on the stomach and congratulate ourselves that Toulouse and Bordeaux, the two faces of the Top 14, are doing so well in the competition. We could also widen the prism, lift our heads from the handlebars and look with sadness at English rugby in crisis, its Welsh counterpart in a no more enviable state when the Scottish and Irish models only care about the success of Glasgow or Leinster. , two entities where their respective national teams are concentrated. As for the involvement that the South African provinces have placed in this Champions Cup that they had dreamed of joining for so long, we will summarize it as follows: zero. Clearly and in light of the forty-eight matches played so far, there is an urgent need to rethink this once wonderful competition. We must spare the modern world this stupefying tunnel of four days of regular phase and start from the quarter-finals, that is to say at the moment when the Champions Cup becomes more or less interesting and visible. Because as such, this competition is neither viable for those who dominate it because it offers them a distorting mirror of their true level. Nor for the broadcasters, very embarrassed at the idea of staging what is, most of the time, only a horrible counterfeit of this noble game…
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