Jean de Villiers: Why South African sides can ‘definitely’ win the Champions Cup and the reason they are falling short
Bulls during Champions Cup defeat to Glasgow Warriors and Springboks legend Jean de Villiers.
Springboks legends Jean de Villiers and Schalk Burger have backed South African sides to beat the best Europe has to offer, despite yet another disappointing Investec Champions Cup campaign.
Both the Bulls and Stormers were eliminated last weekend, ending South African interest in the competition at the last-16 stage.
They have yet to have a side progress beyond the quarter-finals since they were invited to take part in the Champions Cup in the 2022/23 season.
While they have gone well in the United Rugby Championship, providing at least one finalist every year since 2022, that has not been replicated in Europe.
Focus on URC over Champions Cup
Burger feels the URC is the greater focus for their franchises and believes that they could easily compete in the latter stages of the Champions Cup if they made it a priority.
“I think if that becomes your main focus, it can be. We’re talking SA Rugby is on board, the franchises are on board and you go, ‘I want to target Europe’, I think you can,” he said on the Boks Unpacked podcast.
“The issue is at a neutral venue in Spain, can you beat Bordeaux? That’s going to be your question. The URC teams, you know that you can beat a Leinster, it’s been done before, the unknown is is can you beat Toulouse in Europe or can you beat Bordeaux in Europe?”
De Villiers agreed with Burger that the likes of the Bulls and Stormers have the ability to win it, but states that they are hampered by the format.
The South African have to travel more than their European rivals and, as a result, have tended to rotate when playing away from home in the Champions Cup.
That has duly impacted their chances of getting home games in the knockouts, which has duly led to some early exits.
‘The issue is getting to a final’
“That’s a definite yes,” De Villiers responded when asked if South Africa could produce a Champions Cup winner. “You get to a final, neutral venue, I think we can be very competitive and beat a team in the final, the issue is getting there.
“The way that the competition is structured, it’s going to be extremely difficult for a South African team to finish top-half, to then have home games to be able to get to the final.
“The getting there is where it is difficult for us. A one-off against a team, certainly I back our chances, but it’s just getting there.
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“Because you’re not playing all your games in South Africa, so you have to travel, and it is in the middle of another competition, that’s just where we are seeing it be difficult.”
The last-16 featured just one away victory but the Bulls and Stormers came closer than most to bucking that trend, suggesting they can compete with the best.
“They didn’t get it over the line at the weekend but arguably the Bulls and the Stormers should have won,” Burger added.