Springboks set to gain? Rugby CEO calls out SA's club contingent
SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer believes the proposed Club World Cup will 'force SA teams to take the Champions Cup seriously.'
South Africa's Sharks, Bulls and Stormers have been widely accused of prioritising the United Rugby Championship (URC) over the Champions Cup, often opting to rest several starters when the latter occurs.
Neither of the three, which all ended with five points, qualified for the Champions Cup knockout rounds. Meanwhile, each outfit has made it through to the URC quarter-finals, pipping fifth, third, and second in the standings.
The SA Rugby chief is a fan of the Club World Cup, believing it to be an avenue to bridging the competitive gap between northern and southern hemisphere clubs.
But a lot of work remains to make it official.
'The financial aspect is something that still needs to be figured out,' the SA Rugby boss revealed. 'At this stage, only projections have been made, but if accurate, the Club World Cup could be financially beneficial.'
'Officially, no structures have been put in place yet, and no broadcasting rights or sponsorships have been sold. So the financial impact will only be determined in the future.'
'The announcement is somewhat premature, with a lot of detail outstanding, and we don't have all the answers yet.'
Meanwhile, Champions Cup chairman Dominic McKay, said, 'We've had some great discussions throughout the weekend talking about the future of our sport and particularly some exciting projects that relate to EPCR.'
'This is something we've spoken about at EPCR for the last two or three years – we've been trying to work our way through this project to see if we can deliver it.'
'And over the last few days we've had great meetings with our Board, great meetings with our General Assembly, who represent the three leagues and stakeholders from seven unions, and everyone is unanimous about wanting to deliver a World Club Cup through EPCR.'
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