The Euro format change the Sharks will celebrate
It will be scant consolation to the ‘relegated’ Sharks, but merit will be the preferred method of deciding the participants in the European Cup from 2024 onwards.
The Sharks, despite their legion of Springboks, failed to make the cut for next season’s European Cup – the result of an undesirable qualification system.
The Sharks finished eighth in the United Rugby Championship, which under normal circumstances would have seen them again compete in the top flight.
However, the qualification structure saw a Welsh team, Cardiff, get a place at the Champions Cup top table – despite only finishing 10th on the URC standings.
The four Shield winners – Ireland, South Africa, Wales and Scotland/Italy – automatically qualify for the Euro Cup, regardless of their position on the standings.
URC Chief Executive Martin Anayi said there was a proposal – which still requires approval from the teams in the tournament – that they return to a merit format, where the top eight qualify.
Anayi said it was likely that the competition would return to a format of ‘meritocracy’.
“I think that’s most likely,” he told a media round table this week.
“The way it works now is we take the four geographical shield winners and the next four highest placed sides in the league, and we did that because we wanted a broad range of teams in the Champions Cup,” he said.
“We also said, because there is a quite vocal objection to that from some of our stakeholder groups who didn’t want that, but they said they would go with that for a two-year period and then we would review it in the off-season.
“If it isn’t unanimous to continue as we are, we will revert back to a straight meritocracy.
“I believe it is highly likely that we will revert to meritocracy.”
(The article continues below the Martib Anayi interview …)
The URC boss added the European Cup format is also set to ‘revert’ back to a pool system – where they move away from two conferences and back to pools.
“There will still be 24 teams, who will play every team in their pool ‘home and away’,” Anayi said, adding: “The debate is still whether it should be an eight-week or nine-week competition.”
It is proposed that teams only play home and away against teams not in their ‘domestic’ competition.
While the finer details are still being ironed out, a full return to pools is certainly on the cards.
“Those conversations are ‘live’ and a lot of work is being done.”
Anayi also added that the current format of the highest-ranked side hosting the URC final would continue, and the traditional “Destination final” – which has been used in European competitions, would no longer apply.
“We moved away from the ‘Destination Final’ when the South African teams came in, largely because obviously you could have two South African teams in a European ‘destination Final’ and that might be tricky.
“In year one, we obviously had Stormers versus Bulls. So we’ve moved away to a highest-ranked team route,” Anayi explained.
“That’s why this weekend [the semifinals] is really interesting, because if Leinster wins they’ve got a final in Dublin.
“If Munster win and Stormers win, then they’re down in Cape Town.
“That’s why we’ve gone that route and that is really, really tricky for us, but actually this year there is an extra gap of a week between the Champions Cup final in Dublin.”
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