The Albany Gazette - Questions remain over South African involvement in Champions Cup

Only the Sharks tasted victory in the opening two matchdays, with the Bulls and the Stormers pointless and on the verge on missing out on the last 16 ahead of this weekend's third round of matches.

Last time out, Durban's Sharks were hammered at Leicester while Cape Town-based Stormers were humiliated at Harlequins.

Both sides sent second-string outfits to Europe in December due to lengthy travel and player welfare concerns.

Some European clubs making the opposing journey have also chosen to name weakened teams since South African teams joined the Champions Cup and second-tier Challenge Cup in 2022.

"I understand why players in Europe might get annoyed because obviously South Africa is not part of Europe and we obviously now give those teams a few extra hours of travel," South Africa and Sharks lock Eben Etzebeth told The Ruck podcast this week.

"But, for me, the game goes on. People need to adapt to new things and new ideas and new competitions.

"If they complain, it doesn't bother me. I do understand why they complain.

"But for us as South Africans, it's nice to be a part of it, and it will be great if a South African team can win it in the near future."

During their first campaign in the Champions Cup, which started in 1995, the Stormers and the Sharks reached the quarter-finals, as did the Bulls last season.

Etzebeth's team lifted the Challenge Cup in May, giving them qualification to the Champions Cup despite a disastrous United Rugby Championship season.

"It's only the second year that they're in it, so they're going to learn the tricks of the trade and how to manage their squad," La Rochelle's South Africa winger Dillyn Leyds told AFP on Tuesday.

"Hopefully next season in the Champions Cup or if the sides make it further on into this competition we'll see them put out their full strength side or a side that they can feel confident that can go and do the job in Europe or in the UK."

- 'Pretty sore' -

This weekend, the Bulls and their monstrous forwards head to the south of France to play Castres.

They flew to Paris, then Toulouse, a journey taking nearly 24 hours, before a bus trip to Castres later in the week, to play 80 minutes of rugby.

"I know for one that a lot of South African players aren't happy that they've got to travel economy class," Leyds said.

"You can imagine the big boys that they've got running around there, those boys get to London or Dublin and they're pretty sore after having to travel like that.

"You really can't expect the team to be at their best physically after you're expecting them to travel like that so it's hard."

One solution to the issue is for club and international seasons in the two hemispheres to be aligned and played at the same time, unlike currently.

"Everyone's asking for a global calendar. Hopefully it can happen," Etzebeth said.

"That's probably the only thing that makes sense."

(K.Lee--TAG)