Champions Cup exit blessing in disguise for Bulls & Stormers
OPINION: The Bulls and Stormers will be disappointed with their narrow defeats in the Round of 16 of the Champions Cup, but should see it as a blessing in disguise in the bigger scheme of things, writes Angus Opperman.
A Champions Cup quarterfinal in Cape Town would’ve been amazing for both teams, supporters and the competition as a whole, but let’s be realistic.
Do the Bulls and Stormers have the depth and quality to get past the likes of Toulouse, Bordeaux, Bath, Glasgow, Leinster and even Sale Sharks whilst looking to seal favourable log places in the United Rugby Championship?
The answer is no.
Progressing past the Round of 16 and possibly the quarterfinals would’ve put extra pressure on their respective squads to juggle both tournaments, with the Bulls looking to cement their top-eight spot and the Stormers in with a chance to finish No. 1 in the URC.
We have even seen this with the likes of Leinster, who haven’t won the Champions Cup since 2018 and fell short in the URC since the introduction of South African teams until last season, when they lifted their first trophy since 2021.
There’s also the travel factor. South African teams simply don’t have the depth to go all out in both competitions and rotate their squads accordingly.
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We have seen this in January when the Stormers sent a mixed team to Harlequins and got ripped to shreds.
Similarly, the Bulls were sort of lucky to sneak into the play-offs of the Champions Cup following a narrow win against Pau after suffering heavy defeats at home to Bordeaux and Bristol Bears.
The Lions, for instance, are a good example of a team that missed out entirely on the play-offs of the Challenge Cup and soared to a solid winning streak in the URC to put themselves in a position for a maiden quarterfinal berth in the tournament.
The Sharks also have an outside chance to reach the URC play-offs following their Challenge Cup exit against Connacht. Should they have progressed, their quest in the URC would’ve been much tougher.
South African teams in the Champions and Challenge Cup will get to a point where they will be able to regularly reach the semifinals, but for the time being, a realistic trophy to chase is the URC and not EPCR glory.
