Bulls and Stormers can cash in on Bok and home advantage in Champions Cup openers
OPINION: This is the season the Bulls and Stormers can make the Champions Cup semifinals for the first time in history.
The two South African teams have a prime opportunity to make the most of their start to the 2026/27 Champions Cup season when they kick off their campaigns at home.
The Bulls will open the South African proceedings against French juggernaut Stade Francaise at Loftus on Saturday afternoon, while the Stormers will take on Bristol Bears at Cape Town Stadium later the same day.
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The Lions, meanwhile, face a daunting task against La Rochelle in their Champions Cup debut at Stade Marcel-Deflandre.
While Ivan van Rooyen’s team traveled to France for the start of the premier club competition, the tier-one experienced Bulls and Stormers will enjoy a double boost – opening their campaigns at home and having their Springbok compliment available for selection.
The Sharks will run out against Lyon in the second-tier Challenge Cup for the second time after finishing outside the URC top eight. The Cheetahs will be in action against Aviron Bayonnaise.
While the Bulls have enjoyed home starts in all three of their previous campaigns, the Stormers have never kicked things off in Cape Town, having faced Toulon in their opener in Gqeberha a couple of seasons ago.
The early home-ground advantage combined with the availability of their Springboks can provide a big boost for the two United Rugby Championship powerhouses.
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Unlike last season, when the competition kicked off in December, the Stormers and Bulls have their full Bok contingent, a luxury they did not have last season as the European competition fell after the November Tests.
The Champions Cup has produced disappointment upon disappointment for the South African teams until now.
And it’s not surprising; they haven’t taken it seriously.
The quarterfinal has been their peak, with the Stormers, Bulls, and Sharks only getting to that stage.
The Stormers reached the quarterfinals in the 2022/23 season, while the Bulls made the final eight the following year.
The logistical issues of fielding two top-strength teams in both the URC and Champions Cup has been the South African teams’ Achilles heel.
The URC remains SA’s day job, in part because a top-eight finish is needed to qualify for the Champions Cup. But they haven’t been able to go the distance once they got to the Champions Cup, so what really is the point of going all out to get there yet not prioritising it once they’re there?
But things seem different this time around.
The Stormers and Bulls haven’t held back on their squad selections, and it should also help that they were rampant in their local derbies against the Lions and Sharks, with their Springbok returnees at the forefront of their dominance.
The resumption of the Champions Cup in December after the Nations Championship Tests will likely come with mandatory rest periods for the Boks, so they absolutely have to make use of the double advantage this weekend.
Bagging maximum points in your home games is vital in any competition, even more so in one as competitive as the Champions Cup, especially with the new format.
This season, the top three teams in each of the four pools qualify for the Round of 16, with the next four teams with the most points, regardless of pool or standing, completing the first knockout roster.
The competition has also adopted the Rugby Championship bonus-point system, with teams getting a bonus point for scoring three or more tries than the opposition.
So, it won’t be easy against Stade Francaise and Bristol Bears, but the best chance the Bulls and Stormers have at securing maximum points is at home, with their Springboks, in Round One.
