TALKING POINT: How to fix the lopsided playing field in the Champions' Cup

The losses suffered by the South African sides in this weekend’s Investec Champions’ Cup has ignited another tiresome debate about the inclusion of local franchises into the premier cup competition in world rugby.

There will naturally be a bit of a backlash from Europe - and England in particular - at the fact that SA teams are very much a part and parcel of the Champions’ Cup set-up and are going nowhere.

The debate, though, feels really argued on the wrong talking points - because - as anyone from SA Rugby will tell you, they will become a full member of the EPCR in June next year after completing a three-year buy-in process.

That deal was complex and over a three year period the SA sides have had to give up all rights to host playoff games in South Africa. To go through all that pain and spend all that money simply to walk away after a few bad results makes no sense.

And when speaking about the Champions’ Cup, it would be easy to see the bias in some commentators' comments and the way they want to keep “Europe for the Europeans” and detest change.

SA A VERY REAL PART OF EPCR STRUCTURES

But the reality is that SA is very much a part of EPCR and are going nowhere.

So with this in mind, what can we do to improve our showing in the EPCR competitions - which have in the first two seasons provided us with a quarterfinalists in the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks with the latter winning the EPCR Challenge Cup in their second season.

Many may say given the new challenges this isn’t a bad return for a tournament that stops and starts for teams that don’t have anywhere near the budget of the four semifinalists.

But that hasn’t stopped those looking for an easy whipping post to revisit their old talking points. And to be honest, the reality is that without a strong rand, South Africa can’t compete with the buying power of the Pound and Euro.

The irony of the criticism of SA sides sending second string outfits while European clubs do the same when they tour locally is not lost on anyone this side of the equator either.

FRENCH BUYING POWER

Interestingly the buying power argument is not just felt in South Africa, as England captain Jamie George said in The Times on Tuesday. French clubs buying power means that they have star-studded teams that are the envy of the rest of the world.

“Of course you can do it,” George said when asked if an England side could win the Champions’ Cup. “It’s very difficult given the differential in wage expenditure — that’s just maths, that’s facts — but at the same time it doesn’t mean we’re not in this competition to win it.”

And the maths is very much against SA sides, whose player budgets sit at R80-million. In contrast the Premiership salary cap is at R145-million, and they complain that they compete with France, whose salary cap sits at R201-million currently. Add to this the fact that those clubs can buy players from across the world, at a premium - as Leinster did with RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett, and Blair Kinghorn and Jack Willis are at Toulouse - and it is clear the playing fields are far from level.

SA PLAYER POOL IS AN ENVY FOR OTHERS

But South Africa does have what other countries envy - tons of talented players who are looking for international competition. That player base has been used well by the Springboks to win back to back World Cups and more than 400 South Africans fill teams in Europe currently, without mentioning those who have qualified to play for other countries.

In the end there are a few factors that further lopside the playing field and hamper SA’s chances in the competition. One is the never-ending season - SA teams are the only ones worldwide that play 12 months a year - whether in the URC, Currie Cup or for the Springboks. There have been many words written about the need for a global season and the sustainability of the current approach, and even SA Rugby president Mark Alexander and CEO Rian Oberholzer have stressed the current situation is unsustainable.

Until there is a shift in World Rugby’s current outlook of talking a lot and doing little, this is unlikely to change.

We are already seeing the repercussions of three seasons of this with local franchises all having double digit injury lists. This is likely to continue.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

So what can be done about this? How can SA get better in the Champions’ Cup?

Firstly it must be said that this is a process that should happen naturally. Every franchise has talented youngsters currently that are improving. The amount of new Boks out of the URC is testament to this. A few more seasons of this and all franchises should have more depth in Springbok players. This will happen naturally and should be encouraged.

Secondly teams are getting cleverer at signing players that aren’t regular Springboks. The likes of Jason Jenkins, the Tshituka brothers, Cobus Wiese at the Bulls and others are slowly showing the depth is increasing, providing that natural springboard for younger players.

Both these situations take time, but the more investment in them you see, the more Cameron Hanekoms, Ethan Hookers and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulus will emerge to move into the national squads.

A change in focus and attitude is also necessary - and the Sharks are probably the only side that gets it more than the others. As Jake White said, this is test rugby in club jerseys. Adopting a test attitude will go a long way, especially with the step up from the URC and the mindset of the bigger clubs being very much on a test footing. The more players get test experience, the more they will handle the pressure. Again this takes time, but it will come.

COMPETITION STRUCTURE NEEDS A TINKER

Then a little tinkering of the competition structure can go a long way. Allow, as John Plumtree has suggested, that SA teams play both of their away games back to back, thereby alleviating the travel factor a little bit.

And it could go further - make the competition 8 pools of 3, with the pool winners going into a top eight. It eliminates the extra round of 16 and gives more jeopardy to the competition.

In short there are solutions, and there are many people in SA Rugby looking for them. So the kneejerk reaction from some in Europe may be overboard.

SA teams are going nowhere. But solutions need to be found to take these challenges head on.

Until that happens, the Champions’ Cup will always be a tough challenge, no matter how many Springboks you have.