SA teams have to take the Champions Cup seriously if they are to feature in the Club World Cup

It is exciting news that a Rugby World Club Cup will be held every four years, but the sobering news is that, as things currently stand, no South African team would qualify for the 16-team event.

It was in Cardiff last week that European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) Chairman Dominic McKay unveiled the new tournament, which will be second only to the Rugby World Cup in stature.

Speaking after Bordeaux had beaten Northampton in the Champions Cup final, McKay said the event would pit the eight teams that qualify for the Champions Cup in the year of the Club World Cup against the top seven teams from Super Rugby, plus the top finishing team in Japan League One.

It sounds wonderful. The long-running debate as to whether Super Rugby is stronger than the United Rugby Championship (URC) or the English and French leagues will be decided on the field.

Fixtures such as Crusaders versus Toulouse, Bordeaux versus the Brumbies, the Sharks versus the Highlanders, the Bulls versus New South Wales, and so on are mouth-watering.

The problem for the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions is that to feature in the event, they would have to qualify for the Champions Cup.

The South African teams were conspicuous by their absence from the Champions Cup this year and, heck they could not even qualify the playoffs for the Challenge Cup, the competition for the “also-rans” who were not good enough to make the Champions Cup.

Frankly, South Africa’s no-show in the European Cup competitions has been embarrassing, especially for SA Rugby administrators. Little wonder some European pundits have accused the South African teams of disrespecting a competition that is cherished in the north.

French players, notably the esteemed Antoine Dupont, have questioned whether SA teams should have a place at the Champions Cup table.

When SA Rugby negotiated South Africa’s movement from Super Rugby to the United Rugby Championship and the European Cup competitions, it was done in good faith that the best teams would play.

This has been the case in the URC but not in the Cups, where the Sharks, Stormers and Bulls have, on occasions, sent B teams to overseas fixtures and been given hidings.

It is not a good look. The four SA franchises claim that they don’t have the depth to compete in the URC as well as the Cups, and so put their eggs into the URC basket.

This is reflected in South Africa’s exceptional performance in the URC. The first final was held in Cape Town between the Stormers and Bulls and in the other two finals to date, South Africa had a team present.

This year, the Bulls finished second, the Sharks third, Stormers fifth and even the struggling Lions made 11th place in the 16-team competition.

But with the Club World Cup kicking off in 2028, the year after the 2027 World Cup, things are going to have to change.

As SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said in Cardiff after MacKay’s announcement, “Maybe now the SA teams will take the Champions Cup seriously.”

And it is not pie in the sky. The club tournament is going to happen. McKay confirmed that the Rugby World Club Cup has been signed off by all unions and both hemispheres

McKay said, “It promises to be box office.

“To elevate the whole of professional club rugby, we want to create this World Club Cup in 2028 and 2032 with our friends from the south,” McKay explained.

“We have these incredible competitions and we want to find a way to elevate them further and bring in teams from Australia, from New Zealand, from Japan, and we’ll do that through the World Club Cup.

“So, once every four years, starting in 2028, we’re going to bring the greatest clubs from the southern hemisphere to battle it out against the greatest clubs in the northern hemisphere – and who wouldn’t want to find out who the greatest club in the world is as a consequence of that?”

This means South Africa has three years to get its house in order if they are to have teams competing in the club rugby extravaganza and financially benefitting from what will be a highly lucrative tournament. Television broadcasting revenue will be massive.

So, what is to be done for the SA teams to improve their ability to compete across all competitions and not just the URC?

Bulls coach Jake White had a big part of the answer this week. The 2007 World Cup-winning coach says the vast number of top South African players playing overseas needs to be brought home to strengthen the local teams.

“I've been saying for years now that we don't like having to take under-strength squads around the world. But the reality is we need our best players to be staying in South Africa and I've said that many times.

“If Rian (Oberholzer) is going to those big meetings and saying South Africa would dearly love to be part of the Club World Cup competition, well, then I would quite rightly think all the best players will then be made available to play for our clubs.

“Otherwise, what's the reason for putting your name down if you're not going to have the best players being able to play for your own clubs?”

To bring home players, the local unions need cash and that could come from SA Rugby now that massive sponsorship money is pouring into their coffers.

Big business in South Africa is queuing up to cash in on the success of the Springboks and some of that money must filter down to the provinces.