AWhen discussing the relevance of seeing South African franchises appear in the two European Cups for three seasons now, we must first remember that this presence is linked to their commitment to the United Rugby Championship (URC), alongside the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian teams. After his exclusion from Super Rugby (a championship now made up of the New Zealand, Australian and Fijian franchises) following Covid, it was necessary to save the South African soldier. Who therefore finds himself involved in continental jousts.
1 Sportingly, a disappointing first result
With a title (Stormers in 2022) and two finals (Stormers in 2023 and Bulls in 2024), the South African franchises are doing more than well in the URC. It's much more mixed in the Champions Cup, where they lost almost as many matches (18) as they won (19). Two quarter-finalists in 2023, two eighth-finalists the following year. This season, the Bulls will stop in the groups, the Sharks will at best be fourth and the Stormers third.
They therefore have the assurance of playing their round of 16 against a big team in Europe, with what that implies in terms of travel time and adaptation to the weather. Out of 18 matches played on the old continent, the South African franchises have only won four. This season, they have skipped certain trips. What makes us wonder about a competition that is a bit distorted depending on the time (and place) where we compete: beyond the environmental aspect, does it really have a sporting meaning?
John Dobson, head coach of the Stormers, believes that competing in the URC and the Champions Cup “is probably what helped us so much in the World Cup: every ruck is a fight, every scrum is a 20-second contest, every maul is a competition. » The national team remains the priority, and its calendar remains that of the Southern Hemisphere, with a Rugby Championship in the summer. The internationals present in the squad are therefore sometimes put on rest, otherwise they would never cut.
2 Financial contributions and great popular support
Since 2023, the name of the Champions Cup has been supplemented by that of a brand, Investec, a banking group headquartered in… Johannesburg. The conclusion of this partnership is directly linked to the integration of the South African franchises. The amount has not been leaked but ten years ago, for the same type of contract, Heineken paid 8 million euros per season. “I would not be surprised if other partners arrived shortly,” says Yann Roubert, president of Lyon and member of the EPCR steering committee.
According to him, “certain TV broadcasters abroad have stayed even though they had planned to leave” thanks to these teams, which are home to some world champions. The SuperSport group has signed a multi-million euro contract to broadcast the competition in South Africa. However, the price has been halved for the 2022-2026 cycle in France, and the amounts would be oriented downward elsewhere.
Still according to Yann Roubert, “the South African federation pays more to the EPCR than the costs represented by the integration of franchises”, in particular the surplus linked to travel, assumed by the organizer. Finally, even if the stadiums are far from seeing their approximately 50,000 seats occupied, the matches attract large crowds in South Africa, a country where rugby is the most popular sport after football.
3 What avenues for better integration?
“If the South Africans are to continue to exist in this competition, we really have to think about the pace of the calendar,” said Ugo Mola, the Toulouse manager, after his team's victory at the Sharks last weekend. The privilege granted to the Springboks makes any harmonization impossible. And it's impossible to neglect the URC too much, since this competition allows access to the Champions Cup…
Combining the two trips to Europe would allow franchises to avoid an energy-consuming trip, but broadcasters (and the public) are attached to the home-away alternation. The EPCR is also looking for a transport partner, capable of providing chartered planes to optimize logistics, failing to reduce the carbon footprint.
XV of France: the challenges of the return of Auradou and Jegou in selection
The third row of Stade Rochelais Oscar Jegou and the second row of Section Paloise Hugo Auradou are in the list of 42 players selected to prepare for the Six-Nations. A decision which comes almost six months after the Mendoza affair, for which they benefited from a dismissal of the case
A few days ago, Jake White, manager of the Bulls, repeated his wish to see “all South African players return to the country”. In the list for the November 2024 tour, 12 players out of the 33 called up are playing abroad, where they receive higher salaries. This does not prevent them from dominating selection rugby. On the club side, however, the road is still long. And the problem seems almost insoluble.
