The announcement over the weekend of a new Club World Cup competition - to be managed by the EPCR and to be delivered in 2028 has created a new buzz in rugby, and one that has excited Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White.
But at the same time White’s long term concerns about the state of South African rugby and his crusade to have the top players playing in the country needs to be addressed if the four franchises are to make a mark in the newly touted World Cup competition.
The Club World Cup concept, announced by the EPCR this past weekend, will see the top eight teams in the Investec Champions’ Cup go head to head with six or seven teams from Super Rugby Pacific and either one or two teams from Japan in a 16-team tournament every four years.
While there are already concerns about fitting in such a competition in a long and cluttered season, where South African teams suffer more than others because the country has a foothold in both hemispheres, White’s concerns about the amount of players playing overseas, and the lack of any strategy to keep players in the country were further heightened by comments made by SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer in Rapport newspaper on the weekend.
NO QUALIFIERS THIS SEASON FOR TOP EIGHT
Oberholzer said the establishment of the Club World Cup will force SA franchises to take the Investec Champions Cup “more seriously” - a reference to some gripes from up north when the Sharks and Stormers this season, and Bulls last season sent understrength sides to key games.
South Africa’s standing wasn’t helped by the fact that none of the four franchises qualified for the top eight of the Champions’ Cup, which if the Club World Cup was held today, would mean that there would be no South African representation.
White said the establishment of the competition was “fantastic news” but reiterated South Africa would need a strategy to keep their best talent at the local franchises if they were to make an impact in the competition.
“It’s fantastic,” White said ahead of his side’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinal clash against Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
“I would say that I'm really very happy because what it's telling me is that if we put our names down for a World Cup, a World Cup Club competition, well, then you would think we're going to take it very seriously.
BEST PLAYERS MUST PLAY
“I mean, you wouldn't put your name down for World Cup rugby if you weren't going to go and play in it and you weren't going to try and win it.
"So, I would say to you guys that I think that - and maybe ask SA Rugby - but I would think that if you're going to put your name down, that means all the best players will stay in South Africa because you won't want to be able to put your name down into a competition and then still allow a mass exodus of all the players to be playing against you. So, I applaud that.”
White has been advocating for a number of top Boks to return to the country and there is a strategy that doesn’t see half the Bok squad based at overseas clubs.
While it has worked for Springbok rugby and the country has won two consecutive World Cups, White believes rugby will be stronger if the four franchises can match the powerhouses in Europe for player depth.
UNDERSTRENGTH SIDES ARE NOT ON
“I think that it may be me saying what I've been saying for years now is, we don't like having to take understrength squads around the world. But the reality is we need our best players to be staying in South Africa and I've said that to you many times.
So, reading that, I take it as if Rian is going to those big meetings and saying South Africa would dearly love to be part of the World Cup Club competition, well, then I would quite rightly think, therefore, all the best players will then be made available to play for our clubs.
“Otherwise, what's the reason for putting your name down if you're not going to have the best players being able to play for your own clubs?”
White didn’t want to get drawn to the specifics of the competition and whether a team like Moana Pasifika, who lost 85-7 points to the Chiefs last week, but is currently seventh in Super Rugby Pacific could qualify to make up the numbers.
“I'm going to answer it like this. I don't really care who plays as long as we've got the best team and we can win that competition every year. So, I'm not really worried who the other 15 teams are.
“But what I would like to know is that if we put our names down we must then be good enough to win it. And I don't want to play in a competition just because they're looking for eight European Cup teams to play in it. We want to play because we want the best players to be running out.
‘CAN’T DODGE THAT BULLET’
“Otherwise, you're selling a product to the public that's not really genuine. Because then it's not the best club teams in the world, is it? That's how I see it. It's either the best club teams in the world or it's not the best club teams in the world.
And let's not forget, Rugby World Cups are repercharge, regions, you know, that's why they have the best teams playing in the World Cup. You can't dodge that bullet.
“So, if the same premise works on clubs, well then we'll have the best club teams and the best players in the world playing for their clubs. Which is what I've been asking you guys for a long time. Why don't we have the best club players playing for their clubs?
White said qualifying for the Club World Cup would see recruitment become a premium for the clubs who are there as it would attract top players as well.
“If the best players are playing, then it will. I told you, one of the football things, and I'm sure you all follow football, players have got in their contracts that if Liverpool or Man United, whatever, don't qualify for Champions Cup football, they can get out of their deal.
“That's what a premium they put on playing in that tournament. And rugby, if we're going to sell that, World Cup rugby club competition, and you have to therefore be the best European Cup teams, well then it just has a domino effect down and means that the best players want to be in that.
You can't have a competition where you put a premium on the best tournament in the world when it comes to clubs and the best players aren't playing.
“That's how I see it. Otherwise, one doesn't add to the other one. So I would think that going forward, that if those people that are selling a product to a sponsor about we will bring you the best players to play in club rugby, then surely the guys who put the money in will say that's fantastic, but let's make sure that I have the best players play.”