JIts season’s Heineken Champions Cup even makes the expanded Eurovision Song Contest a parochial concept. This weekend alone there are openers in places as disparate as Pretoria, Durban, Brentford and Le Havre, involving almost absurd contrasts in temperature and altitude. It’s “Europe”, captain, but not as we know it.
Talk about refreshing the parts other years never got to. This weekend, the Harlequins will be on the edge of the Indian Ocean, facing humidity and 30 degree heat. Next week they will be back next to the River Crane in Twickenham to freeze their Christmas nuts. People talk about the brave new world of a Club World Championship, but in many ways it’s already here.
So welcome, for better or for worse, to rugby Games without borders. For English and French clubs, in particular, this is uncharted territory. Don’t ask, just yet, about the carbon footprint or the number of away fans Lyon will take to watch them play against the Bulls. Instead, sit back and contemplate the novelty of a revamped tournament that looks so bonkers on paper it just might work.
Admittedly, it may take some time for people to grasp the whole idea. “If I’m being honest, I don’t know if the introduction of South African teams has necessarily improved the Heineken Cup for European teams,” Exeter’s Rob Baxter muttered this week. The Chiefs are always up for new experiences but the logistics of the trip are diabolical. “It’s great for South Africa…it probably makes it more difficult for us. I’m sure our players are looking forward to a week in South Africa [but] from a rugby organisation, administration and cost point of view it is a nightmare.
His Harlequins counterpart Tabai Matson, on the other hand, tried not to sound too cheerful – “I don’t think my wife wants to hear that we’re training in 29C and I’m wearing a jersey” – into his phone. calls home from Durban this week. The stark reality can still wait. The Sharks’ decision to pick Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Bongi Mbonambi and a bunch of other Springboks involved against England less than a fortnight ago certainly has rugby fans in both hemispheres sitting up and taking notice. .
Because, if nothing else, the participation of South Africa’s top three provincial teams adds an extra pinch of intrigue. Take away Leinster, the top three or four French teams and maybe Saracens and how many European-based teams are equipped to secure the cup? The possibility of being forced to travel to Loftus Versfeld later in the tournament to face a strong and motivated Bulls side makes things a little less predictable.
As Stormers coach John Dobson clarified this week, it will also take time for the South Africans to acclimatize to the different rhythms of the competition. His Bulls counterpart Jake White feels the same way, wondering if a “wake-up call” awaits some of his less experienced players. “The Champions Cup is the equivalent of the Champions League in football – taking part in it is like playing a Test every Saturday. European teams don’t just tap into their country’s pool of players – “They have stars from all the top rugby nations. I’m afraid South Africans are a little naïve about what to expect. The Champions Cup teams are much stronger than the United Rugby Championship teams.
In short, no one knows exactly what to think of the new landscape. The other significant adjustment is that, unlike last season, the last 16 – including the top eight from each of the two pools – will be played over one leg, not two. There are just four pool games to establish crucial early momentum and secure a qualifying hold. If you can’t get started quickly, especially at home, things will get very difficult very quickly.
In this regard, there are four particularly important games on the opening weekend. The first is the aforementioned Sharks vs. Quins game: without an injured Marcus Smith to conjure up some magic, a serious push from the top five Quins is going to be needed. The second is Racing 92 v Leinster, moved from Paris to Le Havre because – like you – La Défense Arena was rented this weekend for a rap concert. If Racing and Finn Russell start slow, it will make their trip to Harlequins in round two even more vital.
And if an English challenge is to materialize anywhere other than Premiership leaders Saracens, then Gloucester and Sale will need to beef up at home to Bordeaux-Bègles and Ulster, respectively. The second legs are sure to be tough and, with home advantage in the round of 16 also potentially influencing the quarter-final draw, there is even less room for maneuver in the group stages than ever before.
Pool A looks particularly diabolical, with the robust quartet of Bulls, Leinster, Saracens and Racing 92 or Bordeaux likely to undergo major changes. The Pool B top four, meanwhile, could easily prove very heavy in France, with Top 14 leaders Toulouse, defending champions La Rochelle, Montpellier and either Ulster or Munster potentially leading the charge. .
And if it all finally culminates in a Leinster-Toulouse final at the Aviva Stadium on May 20, it will be another sign of this increasingly Franco-Irish era. The 2023 Six Nations could easily see the same two nations battling it out for the title and Leinster, for all their sustained excellence, would absolutely love to triumph on home soil having lifted the Champions Cup just once since 2012. either, one thing is for sure: we can no longer call it Europe.