VIDEO: Coaches take aim at SARU over derby debacle

‘The organisers have to be better than this.’

That one sentence captured the frustration of some of the South African coaches over the decision to postpone the opening round of the United Rugby Championship fixtures, involving the South African, teams till next year.

In a media release issued only last week, the South African Rugby Union admitted they “requested” the URC move the fixtures to avoid a clash with the Currie Cup Final on September 21.

The Stormers were due to take on the Bulls in the traditional North-South derby in Cape Town and the Sharks were set to host the Lions in Durban.

“The URC is working with SARU, the home teams and host broadcasters, to reschedule these fixtures to update ticket holders and supporters as soon as possible,” the statement read.

The Stormers now start their campaign with a three-match road trip – against Ospreys on September 28, Zebre on October 5 and Edinburgh on October 12.

The Sharks also start with three away matches in Europe – Connacht (September 28), the Dragons (October 5) and Benetton (October 12).

The decision did not go down well with all the coaches, with Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson and Sharks coach John Plumtree admitting it is causing all kinds of problems in terms of their preparations for the season.

Before the Currie Cup season started, the Sharks made it clear that they would use the first eight rounds of the Currie Cup to give the bulk of the Under-20 tear game time. The Sharks team was coached by Springbok JP Pietersen – also the U20 coach.

They were planning to use Round Nine and 10 as pre-season for the URC.

Dobson’s Stormers had a similar approach – a squad of mainly U20 and fringe players getting game time, coached by the URC franchise’s assistants.

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The Stormers Director of Rugby, Dobson, described it as “a hell of a setback” for their plans.

“We would have approached the Currie Cup differently, for one,” Dobson told @rugby365com, in reference to fielding mostly U20 and fringe players in the domestic season.

“Every coach would have had every session planned, their whole progression plan [in place] and how many minutes they wanted for each player ahead of that first game,” Dobson added.

He said the decision to postpone it threw their pre-season plans into turmoil.

“I was on the phone today trying to organise a friendly.

“It is disruptive.

“We were looking forward to playing in the Cape Town Stadium and building some momentum.

“It has been a blow for our preparation and trying to get the season underway in Cape Town.

“Us [Stormers] against the Bulls is a big event in Cape Town.”

(WATCH as Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson and Sharks coach John Plumtree speak candidly about the decision to postpone the South African matches in the opening Round of the URC….)

The Sharks coach, Plumtree, added that when they did their planning, they had to factor in the introduction and resting of national team players.

“The organisers just have to be better than this,” he said about SARU – who had a stand-off with the player’s union, MyPlayers, ahead of the Currie Cup season over the resting of players.

“If we are going to play a competition through the winter months [in South Africa] and it then impacts the URC, it can impact our planning.

“They just have to get better organised, because we spend a lot of time planning and post-Christmas we now have another game to add to the calendar.”

Plumtree said they were happy to play the Currie Cup Final and the URC Round One on the same day.

“We would have played a younger group, a different group that missed out on the [matchday] 23 in the Currie Cup Final and carried on with it.

“That is what everyone [the four URC franchises] was happy to do, bar one or two provinces.

“It is a pain to find time for another game later on.”

Dobson said he agrees with Plumtree that it is “poor planning”.

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