The Cheetahs' long wait to play international rugby may be nearing an end. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
There may finally be a light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel for the Cheetahs as they are set to learn if they can return to competitive international franchise action in the next season of the United Rugby Championship.
A potential B division, called the United Rugby Shield, is to be decided on at the end of the month when key URC stakeholders meet to resolve whether to give the competition the green light, with the Cheetahs one of the first names on the entry list.
The Bloemfontein based franchise has been sorely mistreated by SA Rugby for a while now, after they were first removed from Super Rugby and then from the Pro14 (now URC) to make way for the big four (Lions, Bulls, Stormers and Sharks) South African franchises.
This has left them in limbo since 2020, with only the locally based Currie Cup tournament to play in and with them currently bossing the 2022 edition, going unbeaten in their opening seven games, they are hungry for a bigger challenge.
Speaking in a post-match press conference after their most recent win against Western Province this past weekend, Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie explained their hope to be brought into the potential new competition.
“There’s a meeting scheduled for the end of April, with a lot of role players, for a sort of B division of the URC,” said Fourie.
“They will call it the United Rugby Shield. It has been coming a long time. We have been promised since December 2020 that this will happen, and it’s now two years down the line. So it’s been a long time for us.
“But it looks promising, so we really hope that it will come off and that they will finalise it at the end of the month.”
With no other word on the potential tournament, it is unknown how many teams will possibly take part in it, however, it stands to reason that sides from SA, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy, would be a part of it as they make up the current contingent of URC teams.
This opens the door for the possibility of other SA teams making their way into Europe, with the other two Currie Cup sides, the Griquas and Pumas maybe in line.
The Eastern Province Elephants (formerly Southern Kings) will also have their interests piqued, after they were unceremoniously dumped out of the Pro14 along with the Cheetahs.
There could also be space for other European teams looking to improve their rugby, with Georgia and Spain obvious choices.
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