Eben Etzebeth said it’ll be great to have four SA teams in the Champions Cup next season, yet Sharks boss John Plumtree wants to avoid “throwing all our eggs in one basket” again.
The Challenge Cup winners were speaking in a teleconference with local media on Thursday following their historic title victory in London last week. The Sharks booked safe passage back to the Champions Cup with last Friday’s win against Gloucester.
The Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers, too, have already for the Champions Cup, and the Lions could join them in the 2024-25 edition of the EPCR competition if a series of results fall the team’s way this week in the final round of the league phase in the Vodacom URC.
Ivan van Rooyen’s troops are also hunting their first playoff appearance, a feat that hinges on them beating the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday – and Champions Cup qualification will come their way if Ulster are denied any points by defending champions Munster in Limerick.
“I personally hope the Lions can make it as well so we can have four teams in there,” Etzebeth told reporters. “Hopefully the Stormers can do them a favour this week!
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“It’ll be great to have all four SA franchises in the Champions Cup. I think SA fans are not sure how big the Champions Cup is yet; you can see overseas how the stadiums get filled with everyone excited.
“So hopefully our fans can start seeing how big that competition is, it’s like a World Cup for club rugby. Especially next season when we play Champions Cup in the group stages, hopefully we can fill Kings Park and people will feel that excitement.
“New training kit, new jerseys, it’s just a different feel to the whole environment of a Champions Cup game. We’re excited to be a part of that elite group [again].”
Plumtree’s men will conclude their URC campaign by playing hosts to the high-flying Bulls in Durban on Saturday. The Durbanites unapologetically prioritised their European Cup commitments this season having only won four of 17 URC matches.
“Having to navigate such a long season with your Springboks having such a loaded international season and in between you’re trying to play URC.. it’s tough for us, and it’s tough for them,” Plumtree said.
“It shows just how important it is that we’ve got a squad that can compete in the URC without those guys. Otherwise if we can’t do that, then we’re going to have to throw all our eggs into the basket of the Champions Cup next year, and ideally we don’t want to be doing that. We want to be competing in the URC and pushing for the top eight.
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“I’m proud of the boys and what we achieved, winning the Challenge Cup is not an easy competition to win. Winning any trophy isn’t easy.
“We threw all our eggs into one basket and that was the EPCR and we just had to plan and prepare for that trophy, and thought if we win that we get Champions Cup, which is where we want to be. And then we rebuild for the URC, and that’s what we’re doing slowly.”
It is one of the great ironies of this season that the globetrotting Sharks will determine whether the Bulls finish outside of the top two, and who wins the SA Shield.
“It’s a massive challenge for us in terms of preparation, we only just got back and our week has been compromised. We put a lot of energy into winning the Challenge Cup,” Plumtree added.
“We spent four of the last six weeks overseas and I got a team back together that’s pretty knackered – along with their head coach!
“We do have some injuries and pretty much only had two light runs. But there’s a home crowd on Saturday and it’s our last game, so all we can do is put on a performance that everyone enjoys.”
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
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Eben Etzebeth said it’ll be great to have four SA teams in the Champions Cup next season, yet Sharks boss John Plumtree wants to avoid “throwing all our eggs in one basket” again.
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