Eben Etzebeth isn’t bothered by any complaints over South African involvement in the Investec Champions Cup, saying “people need to adapt to new things”.
Doubts are still lingering over the future participation of the three South African teams in the EPCR tournament as clubs continue to send weakened sides to Europe.
Only the Sharks tasted victory in the opening two match days, with the Vodacom Bulls and Stormers pointless and on the verge of missing out on the last 16 ahead of this week’s third round of matches.
Last time out, the Sharks were lashed at Leicester while the Stormers were hammered at Harlequins. Both sides sent second-string outfits to Europe in December due to lengthy travel and player welfare concerns.
Some European clubs making the opposing journey have also chosen to name weakened teams since South African teams joined the Champions Cup and second-tier EPCR Challenge Cup in 2022.
“I understand why players in Europe might get annoyed because obviously South Africa is not part of Europe and we obviously now give those teams a few extra hours of travel,” Springbok and Sharks star Etzebeth told The Ruck podcast this week.
“But, for me, the game goes on. People need to adapt to new things and new ideas and new competitions. If they complain, it doesn’t bother me. I do understand why they complain.
“But for us as South Africans, it’s nice to be a part of it, and it will be great if a South African team can win it in the near future.”
During their first campaign in the Champions Cup, the Stormers and Sharks reached the quarter-finals, as did the Bulls last season.
Etzebeth’s team lifted the Challenge Cup in May, giving them qualification to the Champions Cup despite a disappointing United Rugby Championship season.
“It’s only the second year that they’re in it, so they’re going to learn the tricks of the trade and how to manage their squad,” La Rochelle’s Bok winger Dillyn Leyds told AFP on Tuesday.
“Hopefully next season in the Champions Cup, or if the sides make it further on into this competition, we’ll see them put out their full strength side or a side that they are confident can go and do the job in Europe or in the UK.”
This week, the Bulls and their monstrous forwards head to the south of France to play Castres.
They flew to Paris, then Toulouse, a journey taking nearly 24 hours, before a bus trip to Castres later in the week, to play 80 minutes of rugby.
know for one that a lot of South African players aren’t happy that they’ve got to travel economy class,” Leyds said.
“You can imagine the big boys that they’ve got running around there, those boys get to London or Dublin and they’re pretty sore after having to travel like that.
“You really can’t expect the team to be at their best physically after you’re expecting them to travel like that so it’s hard.”
One solution to the issue is for club and international seasons in the two hemispheres to be aligned and played concurrently.
“Everyone’s asking for a global calendar. Hopefully it can happen,” Etzebeth said. “That’s probably the only thing that makes sense.”
