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Massive red flag raised by weakened Champions Cup teams – Andy Goode
We have seen weakened teams fielded in the Investec Champions Cup before but the fact it is happening at the quarter-final stage this season raises a massive red flag and action has to be taken.
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This is the best club tournament in the world and is supposed to be the absolute elite level of competition, so it is disheartening to see the XV picked by the Bulls and Harlequins leaving out their two most experienced internationals.
I appreciate there are extenuating circumstances in both cases but it isn’t a good look for the Champions Cup or the sport as a whole and it can’t be allowed to happen again or it will devalue the competition.
The Bulls have left behind Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Johan Goosen, Wilco Louw, Marcell Coetzee, and a host of others as they have made 13 changes to the starting XV that won their round of 16 game so convincingly last week at home in Pretoria.
South African sides are always going to be up against it on a short turnaround but they surely had to back themselves to beat Lyon and expect Northampton to see off Munster, so some sort of travel plan should have been in place.
Jake White understandably seemed furious that it wasn’t and the players that he has taken to England have travelled in several different groups and taken circuitous routes.
SA Rugby responded by stating that it had cost them £175,000 to sort the flights for this weekend’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Saints, which sounds a lot but that has to be something they are able to deal with if they are going to take part in the tournament.
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The addition of the South African sides can add more quality and an extra dimension to the Champions Cup, but I do think we have to have a conversation about their involvement if they are going to field weakened teams when they get to the latter stages.
They aren’t the only ones who have been dealt a tough hand when it comes to travel costs and logistics over the past fortnight either, but you don’t see La Rochelle fielding the reserves or hear Ronan O’Gara complaining too much.
The champions in the past two seasons had to travel via bus and train to Paris and then flew to Cape Town via Johannesburg before flying back from Cape Town to Johannesburg to Paris and then on to Cork.
They arrived there on Monday lunchtime and have since made the three-hour trip to Dublin for the game, taking their overall journey to over 21,000km and over four days of travelling time just for these couple of games.
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Now they have the small matter of tournament favourites Leinster to face in their own backyard in front of over 50,000 fans at the Aviva Stadium. It is a daunting task with all those miles under their belts but they will back themselves to do it.
Harlequins have at least named a decent side for their trip to Bordeaux but the absence of Danny Care and Joe Marler, their two most experienced internationals, doesn’t look good and it doesn’t suggest they think there is much chance of them winning.
You can completely see why they would give them the week off because England internationals can only play a certain number of games and if they didn’t, they would have to miss a pivotal game in Quins’ push for a place in the Gallagher Premiership play-offs.
However, the optics aren’t good and it does need addressing because the Champions Cup is and should remain the pinnacle of club rugby in this part of the world.
You would be hard-pushed to find many people that think Harlequins will win away at a Bordeaux side that has put 100 points on Saracens over two games this season and has watched Sarries put over 50 on Quins, but this is sport and anything can happen.
There are obviously disparities in budgets and resources between the Top 14 clubs and those in the Premiership and most of the URC, except for Leinster, and that means some clubs don’t seem to think they can win the Champions Cup but they should be backing themselves.
A lot has changed in the calendar to mean more top internationals can play in more big club games, with no Premiership action at all during this year’s Six Nations, but there is obviously a bit more to be done if Care and Marler aren’t able to play in a Champions Cup quarter-final.
Hopefully, the Bulls and Harlequins will both put up a good fight but half of the games in the round of 16 were a bit more one-sided than you would like and you have to fear that it will be a similar story this weekend.
It’s one thing moaning about the team Montpellier sent to Leinster for a relative dead rubber of a pool game a couple of seasons ago, for example, but when it’s happening in a quarter-final questions have to be asked. Let’s hope we don’t see it ever happen again.
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We are in for another incredible weekend of knock out #InvestecChampionsCup rugby, it’s getting tasty ? pic.twitter.com/HPYUMeq8E8
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) April 7, 2024
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments