TALKING POINT: URC Shield is only determinant of local bragging rights

So why are you making a fuss of the Shield? The question came from a fellow rugby writer who didn’t get the extra focus placed on this weekend’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby in Durban, which has the South African conference trophy on the line.

In short, the answer could be “Why not?” There’s certainly no harm done to the competition to hype up the secondary competition within the competition. And while the coaches may choose when they take it seriously or not, they do actually care.

Vodacom Bulls director of rugby Jake White admitted as much when speaking after this past weekend’s loss to the DHL Stormers in Pretoria. At the start of the game, because the Hollywoodbets Sharks had lost to the Emirates Airlines Lions earlier in the afternoon, the Bulls had a chance to clinch the Shield. They failed to take it, and White was honest enough to admit it was part of the reason he was disappointed.

Yes, it is all fluff really. The Stormers celebrated with the trophy when they won it in the first two years and the Bulls again last year but then the tournament organisers would dictate that they should. Anything to draw in eyes and attract attention to the competition, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

It’s why the competition exists and even though there have been some massive crowds at derby games this season, most notably Cape Town, the franchise level of the sport in this country does need selling.

As someone involved in the organisation admitted to me, there’s no denying that South Africans are ‘Bok befok’ as the saying goes. It’s sometimes less obvious that there’s the same fanaticism over rugby lower down.

CONFERENCE SYSTEM WAS A MESS IN SUPER RUGBY

The Shield concept is not new. There was recognition, but without the same level of fanfare and from memory no trophy, of the conference winners in Super Rugby once that competition morphed towards a conference system.

There were years where conference finishing position decided who hosted playoff games etc. Frankly, it was a mess.

And if you were to ask me who won the conferences in those years you’d probably draw a blank on most years except for the one season Jake was coaching the Sharks, 2014. The Durbanites did win it that year and it is remembered because it was their only conference win.

In years to come, there probably won’t be much recollection of who won the SA Shield in the URC either. The same person who asked me the question at the start of this column also asked me if anyone in Ireland cares who wins the Irish Shield or remembers it.

Well, there was an aberration last year, but otherwise it’s always Leinster isn’t it? So there’s no real reason for conversation.

SHIELD SHOULDN’T JUST BE FOR DERBY GAMES

Although mention of Leinster does cue the one problem there could be with the Shield in its current form. The old system where the Shield was decided on overall log position, and not just derby games, was fairer if you wanted to use it as a measure for establishing your country’s best team in the competition.

If Leinster finish top overall surely they must win the Shield too.

Last year when the Stormers were well behind the Bulls on the overall log but still had a chance of winning the conference, Stormers coach John Dobson admitted it would feel a bit flat to win it in those circumstances. As the Bulls were clearly the more successful URC team in the season.

That misgiving aside, there is reason to want the Shield to become something people make more of a fuss of. For the simple reason that when it comes to local franchise/provincial rugby, there is no other way of determining the best South African team.

CURRIE CUP NO LONGER DETERMINES WHO IS BEST

The Currie Cup no longer does that and hasn’t done so since the years when Super Rugby was the Super 12, and completed by the end of May.

Those were the first years of the professional era and it was undeniably the best format that worked for SA - Super Rugby was over in May, the Tri-Nations in late August/early September, and the provinces were at full strength for the second half of the Currie Cup season.

That’s not the case any more and while the Super Rugby train has left the station, it is hoped that the rugby administrators will see common sense and not have the Currie Cup played in what should be the SA off season like it was last year.

The 12-month season is the biggest stumbling block to the Bok quest to continue winning World Cups, as evidenced by the injury crisis being experienced by all local franchises that have Boks on their books.

It is also wishful thinking to imagine the public will ever buy into the winners of an understrength Currie Cup being the best SA team. When the Mpumalanga Pumas won the Currie Cup in 2022, the final was played a week after the Stormers won the URC. No-one would have assumed that meant the Pumas were the best SA team.

The Stormers were the best team that year, a fact determined not by them winning the URC, as that is an international competition, but by winning the URC Shield. And ditto the following year, when they again won the Shield but lost the overall final. And last year the Bulls were the best local team even though Glasgow Warriors beat them in the Grand Final.

You could argue the Bulls should be recognised as the best local team if they finish higher on the overall log than the Sharks, but after beating the Bulls twice, the Sharks would have a good counter-argument to that.

The bottom line though is that regardless of format, the URC is the only way to properly determine local bragging rights and given that there are much bigger crowds at derbies than cross-hemisphere games the quest for local bragging rights does drive up interest.