Reports out of South Africa have confirmed that SARU is weighing up withdrawing its franchises from the Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. The reasons behind such a big decision aren’t about wins or losses, but about logistics and player burnout. An official decision by the South African Rugby Union is expected to be made in July.
Much of it is down to player welfare reasons, as South Africans believe it is unsustainable for their best players to play in club rugby in the northern hemisphere and then go straight into Tests in the southern hemisphere with little turnaround.
The Impact of SARU Leaving Europe
With the sides running as clubs rather than franchises, any move away from Europe would also mean they would drop out of the second-tier Challenge Cup. SARU president Mark Alexander mentioned this issue at a recent Cape Town meeting:
“We make our money from entering competitions. Playing is important, but our players are run off their feet.”
Should the Springbok-laden South African sides walk away from the Champions Cup, however briefly, it would have seismic consequences for world rugby, including the highly coveted betting spikes at the best betting sites in South Africa. Even with football delivering the most coverage by far, rugby competitions like the Challenge Cups draw tremendous attention in South Africa as an alternative to non-stop football coverage.
Even if July’s decision is to leave, it wouldn’t take effect immediately. So, it appears that the Champions and Challenge Cups will still feature SARU. But their departure would open a whole can of worms for the United Rugby Championship (URC), which the Stormers, Sharks, Bulls, and Lions joined in place of Super Rugby before the 2021-22 season.
The South African franchises have been slotted into the Champions and Challenge cups since the 2022-23 season. Four seasons in, however, no South African team has progressed to the quarter-finals of the showpiece tournament. The competition would feature South African sides, and if they pulled out of the Champions Cup, they would likely invest more money and time in expanding their domestic offering with the Currie Cup.
Some inside European rugby believe it is just a bargaining tool by the SARU, looking to strengthen its position in talks with EPCR, but it could be a risky tactic from the South Africans. Still, many legacy European clubs wouldn’t mind if SARU departs. European rugby purists believe that the prized European Cup has become watered down through the years, with teams like South Africa part of it.
The Repercussions of Playing in the European League
The Champions Cup trips of 13,000km each way for the pool stage have led to countless nightmare scenarios involving travel logistics and player welfare. It has also led to many sides sending weakened teams in either direction, devaluing the quality of teams in the Champions Cup pool stages, in particular.
The SARU have been publicly moaning about a long season taking its toll on their players for years. Elite Springboks have small windows in January, February, and March when they get some turnaround during the Six Nations, but are in demand in almost every other month, as their domestic season starts in September and now finishes in June.
