Perhaps there is nothing coincidental about the fact that it is the Cell C Sharks that are sitting the prettiest of the local teams after an opening two rounds of the European Champions Cup that have posed as many questions as answers about South Africa’s participation in the competition.
The Sharks’ win over Bordeaux Begles at a venue that is notoriously difficult for visiting teams to contend with has effectively completed the turn-around for the Sharks after their calamitous Vodacom United Rugby Championship defeat four weeks ago that precipitated a coaching change.
It was the Sharks’ power game that eventually wore down a Bordeaux team that wasn’t really in the game at the end to the extent the end scoreline, just a three point winning margin to the Sharks, might suggest. It was never a game where there was going to be a lot of scoring and Bordeaux, after being the better team in the first half, were well beaten.
Okay, so Bordeaux are only ninth on the Top 14 log, so why the fuss? It is because the French rugby way is to intensify focus on home games, and away wins at venues like the Begles home ground and for that matter the Marcel Michelen where the DHL Stormers lost to Clermont-Auvergne the previous week are as rare as hen’s teeth.
JAKE’S RIGHT ABOUT FINANCIAL DISPARITY
The win by the Sharks went with their bonus point win at home against the Harlequins from London the previous weekend, so they are fairly comfortable in their quest for a place in the double leg round of 16 tie which is the main prize for the South African teams. They are certainly more comfortable than the Stormers and Vodacom Bulls, who both still have some work to do when the competition returns in January with two return fixtures.
Why it may be fitting that it is the Sharks out front among the local teams is because they may well be the only South African side capable of winning the competition. They have the money and the marquee players.
Bulls director of rugby Jake White wasn’t talking nonsense when, in justifying his decision to send a second string team to Exeter Chiefs, he said winning the competition isn’t a realistic objective for local sides.
He was mainly citing the huge chasm there is in the finances available to the overseas teams compared to the South African franchises. And here’s an example of how much of a difference there is. When Leinster thumped Gloucester on Friday, there was a social media backlash because Gloucester sent a second string team to Dublin for the game. The main argument of those supporting the Gloucester decision was that the English club only had a salary budget of 5-million English pounds, which was half of what Leinster boast.
Now that isn’t difficult to convert into rands - it comes to over R100-million. We’re talking about one of the less well off overseas clubs, but they still have twice the salary budget that the Stormers do.
PLAYING KNOCK-OUTS AWAY MAKES SA TEAMS BIT PLAYERS
Couple that with the fact that as it stands, any South African team that has ambitions of advancing beyond the round of 16 is going to have to play all their remaining play-off games overseas, and it is hard to argue against White’s contention that the South African sides are just there to make up the numbers.
It is a pity, as the elite nature of the competition was underlined this weekend by the big, vibrant crowds that turned up at some of the overseas games, and the passion that, for instance, Munster showed in beating Northampton away on Sunday and the Ospreys - yes, it turns out this Welsh team can play after all - at Montpellier on Saturday night.
The overseas teams and players do appear to raise their levels of intensity and focus in the Champions Cup, at least at this stage of the competition. What we might find in the January fixtures is that some would have realised by then that they don’t have a chance of advancing and will be focusing their efforts instead on their respective league performances (URC, Gallagher Premiership or Top 14).
BULLS DECISION VINDICATED BY STORMERS INJURIES
It is how they finish in those competitions that will determine whether they are part of the elite competition again the following year, so that change of focus will be justified. And White’s decision to focus on the URC derby against the Stormers coming up on Friday was probably vindicated by what happened in Cape Town on Saturday as opposed to what his team did, or didn’t do, against the Exeter.
Stormers coach John Dobson had his pleasure at seeing his team get a first win in the competition against London Irish tempered by the high cost of the victory. The one player that Dobson could not do without against the Bulls is lock Salmaan Moerat, but now the big lock looks likely to be out until next year with what looks like an ACL injury.
Leolin Zas and Ruhan Nel are other players ruled out of the derby because of injuries picked up against London Irish, and the lock situation is leaning towards becoming a crisis as Moerat has joined other second row forwards such as Adre Smith (out for the rest of the season), Ernst van Rhyn (who was wearing a moon boot at DHL Stadium at the weekend) and Gary Porter.
If the Stormers had a chance of securing a home quarterfinal or semifinal, perhaps the effort would be more justified, but as it stands, they are playing just for the financial pay-off of just one more game after the pool stages - the home round of 16 tie. After that they are overseas so there is little financial gain to be had.
THE OVERNIGHT FLIGHT SCENARIO HASN’T MATERIALISED
What White didn’t point out last week but probably would if you reminded him of it - the South African teams are not really getting out of the switch to the northern hemisphere that they signed up for. When the switch was first mooted, one of the selling points was that Europe is just one direct overnight flight away.
That sounded easy-peasy in comparison to the travelling done to Australasia in the Super Rugby era. And it would be, if that was what was happening. But, initially because of costs and now because of airline partnership with the competitions, the local teams are not flying direct to the UK, Ireland and Europe, but via Doha. In terms of flying time, that’s not much easier than the outward flight from South Africa to Australia/New Zealand.
Okay, so there isn’t the same jetlag factor brought about by widely contrasting time zones - the time zones are at least similar - but the South African players are also spending far more time traveling than they used to. Admittedly the tours were long, three weeks or more, but at least in Super Rugby, there was one trip to Australasia for each team, at maximum two if you made the play-offs.
At the moment the South African players are jetting off to Europe via Qatar every couple of weeks. It would be easy if they were going overnight and direct from say Cape Town International direct to London Heathrow, but they aren’t doing that. And in the Bulls’ case, playing in Exeter on Saturday before heading to Cape Town via Doha for their next game on a Friday would have impacted on their chances of winning the crucial URC derby. There’s no question of that.
So while it certainly wasn’t a good look for White to be fielding a second string team at a time when South African teams should be trying to prove to the doubting overseas critics why they add value to the competition, what choice did White really have? It was wrong for a second string Bulls team to play such an important game, but he didn’t really have any option. His opponent on Friday night, Dobson, probably now regrets playing his full strength team against London Irish, he could probably have got away with it with a mix-and-match selection.
Results of Heineken Champions CupBordeaux Begles 16 Cell C Sharks 19
Leinster 57 Gloucester 0
Exeter 44 Vodacom Bulls 14
Edinburgh 31 Castres 20
Lyon 20 Saracens 28
Leicester Tigers 23 Clermont Auvergne 16
Ulster 29 La Rochelle 36
DHL Stormers 34 London Irish 14
Montpellier 10 Ospreys 21
Toulouse 45 Sale Sharks 19
Northampton 6 Munster 17
Harlequins 14 Racing 92 10
Challenge Cup results
Emirates Lions 30 Stade Francais 12Glasgow Warriors 26 Perpignan 18
Brive 24 Connacht 31
Toulon 29 Bath 7
Toyota Cheetahs 26 Scarlets 45
Dragons 21 Pau 27
Bristol 35 Zebre 19
Newcastle 10 Cardiff Rugby 47
Bayonne 7 Benetton 45