eBusiness Weekly
Bulls boss Jake White has revealed that South African Champions Cup teams will not host a semi-final of this season’s competition.
The Stormers and Bulls look set to progress to the last 16 of the tournament, but if they are to reach the final four, they will not be allowed to host a semi-final regardless of the seeding.
White confirmed as much following the Bulls’ 31-17 victory over Bristol Bears on Saturday.
Bulls could return to Ashton Gate
“I’m not sure if you guys are aware, but the South African sides can’t host a semi-final,” White told reporters.
“So we chose Ashton Gate as our home ground, so it’s quite ironic that we win here and if we win at Loftus (against Bordeaux), and we win the next two home games at Loftus (last 16 and quarter-final), the next game would be back at Ashton Gate, who knows maybe the stars are aligned.”
When asked for clarity as to why the South African sides are not able to host a semi-final match — which would be a week before the Finals weekend at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London — White said that it had to do with South African Rugby not being shareholders in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and EPCR yet.
“We are not shareholders of the EPCR yet, and we are not shareholders of the URC; that still takes some time, but as non-shareholders, the semi-finals have got to be based in Europe, I think,” he explained.
European rugby v Super Rugby
Despite the challenges that the South African sides face with playing in the URC and EPCR competitions, White said that he still prefers the European competitions over Super Rugby.
The former Springboks coach has experience coaching in the Top 14 with Montpellier, with the start of his current tenure coinciding with South Africa’s exit from Super Rugby. He also coached the Australian Super Rugby side, the Brumbies.
“I have been around for a long time, so I was with Super Rugby as well, and I probably prefer this (URC and Champions Cup),” he said.
“It’s different to Super Rugby, and I say this with respect to the competition because I was part of it from the right in the beginning when I was with the Lions — Transvaal in those days — in 1996 went like Super eight and Super 10 and 12, and to be fair I think once it got to conferences and you didn’t play each other, it lost a lot of the spark. So this is new; we get a chance to play in the Champions Cup, and to me, it is the best club tournament in the world.
“It’s like football; if your club doesn’t get into the Champions League, players are going to want to leave, and I think rugby is going to become the same.” — planetrugby
