The European Cups open their arms to South Africa: five franchises from the rainbow nation will join the Champions Cup and the European Challenge from next season.
The Cape Stormers, Pretoria Bulls and Durban Sharks will thus compete in the Champions Cup, won last Saturday by La Rochelle, while the Johannesburg Lions and the Bloemfontein Cheetahs will play in its little sister, the European Challenge. , won this season by Lyon.
The first three named have been competing in the United Rugby Championship since last season with Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Italian provinces.
The Stormers (2nd in the URC), the Bulls (4th) and the Sharks (5th) therefore qualified for this title, alongside the Irish of Leinster, Munster and Ulster, the Scots of Edinburgh and of the Welsh of the Ospreys.
The Lions finished 12th in the URC and will therefore contest the Challenge.
Just like the Cheetahs, who are currently playing in the Currie Cup but who are invited to the "small" European Cup.
The Sharks (Durban), the Stormers (Cape Town) and the Bulls (Pretoria) will play the #ChampionsCup the Lions (Johannesburg) will play the #ChallengeCup just like the Cheetahs (Bloemfontein), "guests" for the occasion #Rugbyhttps: //t.co/yUruUbNLhM
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) June 2, 2022
These arrivals, assures EPCR Chairman Dominic McKay, “will bring to our tournaments a really interesting touch of Southern Hemisphere rugby, world-class players and new supporters”.
“This is a crucial step in realizing our vision for the development of rugby and our own tournaments, continuing to deliver strong commercial revenue to our leagues and creating an ever higher level of exciting matches for our fans. “, added the boss of the organizing body.
For the time being, the terms of this integration are not known.
The EPCR must announce "soon" the formats for next season, at the same time as the details of the group draws for the two tournaments, scheduled for the end of the month.
EPCR Director General Anthony Lepage is delighted to welcome “such famous and well-known South African franchises” to the European Cups.
He believes that this "will allow these competitions to reach a new level in elite rugby, the best South African players can now compete against the best French and English players".
“We are very excited to raise the bar even higher next season, with games featuring South African World Cup winners, in addition to the European stars who are already rocking the stadiums,” said he added.
"We have already experienced the intensity of the URC and now we will also face the best clubs in England and France," said SARU general manager Jurie Roux.
This enthusiasm is not necessarily shared by everyone.
The president of La Rochelle Vincent Merling, freshly champion of Europe, thus denounces "a loss of identity".
“Let things be clear, I am not at all, at all, in favor of the arrival of South Africa in the European Championship.
Now that South Africa is in the Champions Cup, it's no longer the European Cup.
It is a favorable response that we offer to Celtic rugby which ardently wished it but, for the president of the Stade Rochelais that I am, I do not understand.
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Clément Poitrenaud, the back coach of Stade Toulouse, also believed in early May that this integration "distorts the competition".
The Italian, Scottish and Welsh franchises, collateral victims because deprived of places in the “big” European Cup, would also have things to complain about.