There may be some debate among administrators and definitely overseas pundits about whether South Africa needs to be part of the Investec Champions Cup, but if the views of the DHL Stormers are a reflection of how the local players and coaches feel there is no debate to be had.
A review of all competitions SA rugby is involved in will be conducted at a meeting set for July and which was announced by SARU president Mark Alexander at a press conference 10 days ago where his words may have been misinterpreted by some foreign media. SA Rugby reacted quickly to reports in the UK media saying “SA is set to leave the Champions Cup” by labelling it as supposition.
However, if there is a faction within SA Rugby leaning towards exiting what for good reason is known as the world’s most elite club competition, Stormers coach John Dobson and front-row stalwart and occasional captain Neethling Fouche have left no doubt that they would feel a massive sense of loss if there was no Champions Cup rugby in their team’s season.
PLAYERS UNDERSTAND MAGNITUDE OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF RUGBY
Dobson said the Stormers would be “much the poorer” if there was no Champions Cup rugby, while Fouche said “it was crazy to read those rumours”.
“As players we understand the magnitude of the Champions Cup and the prestige that comes with it,” said Fouche.
“You just had to watch the final (between Bordeaux-Begles and Leisnter) in Bilbao and see the fans and the hype around that game to know that those are the big games you just want to play in. I think it will take a bit of time, but I think as we progress the South African fans will start recognising the level of competition more and more.
“It’s more a situation of maybe not fully understanding the two competitions and the differences between them but the fans will get used to it and buy into it. If you follow soccer you know you have the Premier League and then you have the Champions League. The Champions Cup is the Champions League, the top of the top.
“We want to stay involved as long as we can. It’s about playing the big teams, it’s about going to France and experiencing the culture and level of rugby you encounter there, and it’s just massive for us as the Stormers and hopefully it lasts a long time.”
Dobson said he knew that for the SA fans to fully get into the competition it requires the local teams to do better than they are, and he knows the one game a season that has to be played overseas understrength because of logistical challenges doesn’t help, but he feels the local teams are improving their depth sufficiently to compete in the future.
“I think we were probably an amoeba’s fingernail from being in the quarterfinal this year and that shows progress,” Dobson said in reference to his team’s one point defeat away to Toulon in a round of 16 game where the Stormers were robbed by some poor decisions by the match officials.
“Toulon went on from that game and showed what a good team they are (by going on to contest a semifinal that they lost narrowly). Fixtures against teams like Leicester, La Rochelle, Harlequins, Toulouse are massive inventory for the Stormers and for the people of Cape Town. To have that taken away would be hellishly disappointing.
“There is no player welfare issue around us competing in the Champions Cup. There is that one game a season where we are forced to go with an understrength team overseas, but as we get better and our depth improves and the youngsters come through, because we have a different contracting model to deal with it, we will be better in that fixture in the future.”
COMPETITION HELPS THE BOKS BE READY FOR ALL EVENTUALITIES
Dobson added that SA teams entering the Champions Cup a year after they played in the URC for the first time may explain what he called the “lag” that exists between performances in the URC compared to the Champions Cup but the gap was closing and participating across two fronts would be to the ultimate benefit of SA rugby and the Springboks.
“I think South African teams playing in the URC and the Champions Cup is great for the Springboks and the World Cup preparation because it’s such tough rugby. Playing Toulon away is hard set-piece rugby and tough, physical rugby. It’s different to Super Rugby. I think from a South African point of view, and certainly from a Stormers point of view, we love being a part of it.
“Unfortunately the stories written around this will have played into the hands of people in the north who don’t want us to be part of the competition and this will provide fuel for them, but from our viewpoint there is no question that we definitely want to be part of it.”