Opinion: Early days, but United Rugby Championship earns a pass mark from South Africa

Craig Lewis

Can the United Rugby Championship live up to its potential? With the tournament having passed the halfway mark in its inaugural season, that remains an interesting, enduring, and perhaps open-ended question at this point.

There has certainly been a novelty factor to the first season of the URC, but that’s not to suggest a cross-hemisphere competition hasn’t been beset by different challenges. The tournament initially overlapped with the Springboks‘ 2021 end-of-year tour, as is also the case with the current Six Nations, depriving the URC of some serious star power.

Then there have been Covid-19 disruptions, which have forced match suspensions, re-scheduling and of course led to the dramatic scenes in South Africa last year when touring teams such as Munster and Cardiff were left stranded when the Omicron variant was first detected, leading to border closures and travel disruptions.

Touring South Africa is really important

“Up to this point, the competition has been a bit stop-start,” acknowledges former Springbok Stefan Terblanche, who blazed a trail for many South Africans when he spent several seasons at Ospreys and Ulster before such overseas stints became commonplace.

“But I think it’s really important for the integrity of the competition that the northern hemisphere teams are able to successfully come and tour South Africa now, to experience these conditions, and for the local rugby public to see teams like Munster in action.

“I know from experience that when I went to play for the Ospreys I was absolutely useless early on. In the first few games as I adjusted to the conditions, the different lines of running, the wet field and smaller stadiums, it all contributed to a period where I had to find my feet. So there will be those sort of teething problems, but I do think when all the teams are back to full-strength for the business end of the competition, then you’re really going to see some fireworks.”

The Irish sides such as Leinster, Ulster and Munster have already flexed their metaphorical muscles over the first half of the URC, but there is also a sense that the South African teams are increasingly making their presence felt.

By the end of this season, for example, the Sharks will welcome Eben Etzebeth to a star-studded team that already includes six World Cup winners, while CEO Eduard Coetzee has made it clear that the Durban franchise isn’t done with their recruitment drive just yet.

Sharks assistant coach Noel McNamara, who hails from Ireland, believes the URC is “only going to go from strength to strength”.

“I think it would be very difficult to judge the URC in this first year alone. It’s been so impacted by Covid and it was really unfortunate how things panned out with the teams that originally came to South Africa. That was such a shame, albeit a sign of the times in this current world, but hopefully things are now heading in the right direction with regards to the pandemic.

“With the favourable time zones, and the quality of players in the URC, I think we will see this becoming a really competitive tournament that has high quality rugby on show. When people start seeing Siya Kolisi against Peter O’Mahony or Lukhanyo Am against Garry Ringrose or Johnny Sexton against Morne Steyn, that will get them really excited about the competition.

“It’s a great challenge for the players too,” McNamara adds. “You can play in the humidity of Durban one weekend, and then you can be off to Johannesburg or Pretoria to play at altitude, and then head to Benetton where there are close to sub-zero temperatures.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Munster coach Johann van Graan, who oversaw his team’s resounding win over the Dragons in Limerick, before travelling from Ireland to South Africa – via Paris – to face the Bulls this past weekend.

“I think this is going to be the beauty of the URC over the next couple of months, 12 teams from Europe are going to come down to South Africa for two games each, so if you look at the log now, I think it’s going to be very different after all those tours,” Van Graan said. “The four South African teams hold a lot of cards in their favour because they’ve got quite a few home games coming up.”

As a former player, legendary former Springbok Beast Mtawarira has watched with interest as the South African franchises have entered northern hemisphere competition after being jettisoned from Super Rugby.

“I would have relished an opportunity to play in such a competition,” Mtawarira emphasised. “We used to travel 24 hours just to get to New Zealand, but now you get to travel in the same time zone. The type of game itself suits the South African players because we like to play a forward-orientated game, so I think it’s a great move. It’s just a pity that I am not playing anymore,” he added with a laugh.

At the launch of the United Rugby Championship, it was vaunted as a “game-changer” that would become one of the most revered competitions in world rugby. By all accounts, there is still some way to go before living up to such lofty ambitions – particularly considering some of the officiating controversies that have plagued proceedings at times – but that’s not to say the early signs aren’t promising.

A more holistic judgement can be passed at the end of the season, but for now, and as expressed by Munster lock Jean Kleyn, the arrival of the South African teams does appear to have been well received.

“After the first entry of the Cheetahs and Kings, it’s now a fantastic addition to have the other South African teams involved, and it bodes really well for the future of the competition,” Kleyn commented. “For the development of the sport and the competition in general, it’s exciting. Obviously for the South African teams it takes away the east-to-west time difference that had its travel and broadcasting challenges, and so far it’s been phenomenal having them involved.

“I think it will really raise the standard of the competition, and I’m sure they’ll be competing for the top spots in the near future.”

READ MORE: Opinion: South African teams exploit conditions to gain foothold in United Rugby Championship