CHAMPIONS CUP: An opportunity for SA to put the record straight

It would be no exaggeration to suggest that the first part of the Investec Champions Cup season has been an embarrassment for South African rugby so there will be much scrutiny when the three local franchises return to action in the third round of the group phase this coming weekend.

The Hollywoodbets Sharks went into the competition with the Galactico squad that suggested they would be this country’s best chance of winning EPCR silverware, though of course the Champions Cup is a much higher peak to climb than the one they did last year when they won the lesser EPCR Challenge Cup.

They did keep to the script when they comfortably beat the Exeter Chiefs at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in their first game, the only SA success in the competition thus far, but it was a win that came with a cost.

An injury swathe that started to cut itself through the team during the previous weekend’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby against the DHL Stormers became more pronounced when star players Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi joined others on a lengthy injury list.

While the Sharks do see Champions Cup glory as their ultimate goal, be it this season or in a future season, coach John Plumtree is also only too aware that to compete in the elite competition you have to ensure a top half finish in the URC (there is no Challenge Cup release key for the Durbanites this year).

So with two key URC derbies set for the festive season against the Vodacom Bulls and the Stormers, Plumtree had little choice but to send an understrength team to Leicester Tigers.

Stormers coach John Dobson, with just two URC wins in six starts at that point, was in a similar position and, with the Stormers struggling with a sanatorium roll-call length injury crisis at the time, he too had no option but to go with what could be described as a C team to Harlequins that same weekend.

BOTH COASTAL TEAMS WERE HUMILIATED

The upshot was that both coastal teams were humiliated, with the two English teams both topping the half century mark. It wasn’t that long ago that Dobson said publicly that it was the French clubs that held fear for the South African sides, and not the French ones, so even though the traveling teams were under-strength, the margins of defeat represented a bloody nose to the standing of the world champion nation.

Even more so if you consider what happened to the Bulls the same day. Northampton Saints are the England Premiership champions, but the Bulls would have been expected to win with altitude and the Pretoria heat helping them. Instead the headlines afterwards were all about the Saints’ bravery in winning against the odds.

The upshot was that the Bulls followed up a big opening defeat to Saracens in a storm with a name in England the week before with another loss where they didn’t so much as pick up a losing bonus point. And it was the same with the Sharks and Stormers.

SHARKS CAN CLINCH ROUND 16 BY BEATING MIGHTY TOULOUSE

At least though the Sharks do have the Chiefs win under their belt, and it is the home games that are the most important, and with a bonus point secured last time they played in this competition in Durban, they know they can clinch qualification for the next round this coming weekend.

The only problem is who they face on Saturday - it is no less than mighty Toulouse, the reigning five time champions in the competition and pretty much an international team in all but name.

The Sharks are close to international quality when all their Springboks are fit and after losing both Aphelele Fassi and Andre Esterhuizen to injury in the Cape Town derby against the Stormers in the festive season week, Plumtree will be hoping the other players due back, such as Etzebeth and Mbonambi, will all make it.

The Sharks do need to win what can be described as one of their biggest games of the season as their next Champions Cup game won’t be an easy one - they are away on 19 January to Bordeaux Begles, who are a much improved side on the one that the Sharks beat in Bordeaux two seasons ago.

The Sharks drew a full house to their home URC derby against the Bulls and it wasn’t far from that when they played the Stormers at the end of November and if ever they need another full house at Kings Park it is for this game. The prospect of seeing Antoine DuPont, the world’s most celebrated and hyped rugby player, should be worth the price of the ticket on its own.

LONG SHOT FOR BULLS AND STORMERS

While the Sharks face a must win situation, for the Bulls and Stormers it is a bit more complicated and much more of a long shot - even if they do win their remaining two games they may struggle to make the round of 16 as they have both lost two games. The Bulls’ Loftus defeat to the Saints came a week after the Stormers lost to Toulon in Gqeberha.

The Stormers have the easier task as they are at home to the Sale Sharks, who have been a surprise package in the Premiership, while the Bulls head to France to play Castres. No game in France is easy.

The Bulls return home for their final game so they do have that carrot, while the Stormers can go to Paris in the last week of the group phase chasing qualification in their game against Racing 92 if they pick up five points against their English opponents at DHL Stadium.

Setting the record straight about the relative strengths of club rugby in South Africa and England should be enough of a motivation for the Stormers, but it is the visit of Toulouse to Durban that is the big one in this country this weekend.

INVESTEC CHAMPIONS CUP WEEKEND 10/11/12 JANUARY:

Glasgow Warriors v Racing 92 (Glasgow, Friday 10pm)

DHL Stormers v Sale Sharks (Cape Town, Saturday 3pm)

Hollywoodbets Sharks v Toulouse (Durban, Saturday 5:15pm)

Exeter v Bordeaux Begles (Exeter, Saturday 5:15pm)

Munster v Saracens (Limerick, Saturday 7:30pm)

Stade Francais v Northampton Saints (Paris, Saturday 7:30pm)

Castres v Vodacom Bulls (Castres, Saturday 10pm)

Leicester Tigers v Ulster (Leicester, Saturday 10pm)

Toulon v Harlequins (Toulon, Sunday 3pm)

La Rochelle v Leinster (La Rochelle, Sunday 5:15pm)

Bristol v Benetton (Bristol, Sunday 5:15pm)

Bath v Clermont-Auvergne (Bath, Sunday 7:30pm)