Willie Engelrecht of the Stormers looks dejected as Exeter Chiefs are awarded a penalty during their Champions Cup quarter-final match last Saturday. Picture: Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images
It was a bit of a mixed first hit out in the Champions and Challenge Cup competitions for South African sides, as all five teams’ participation came to an end in the early stages of the knockouts.
It was a solid showing overall that all five teams managed to progress from the group stages, but it was unfortunate that no side was able to breach the quarterfinals.
The Stormers and Sharks, who feature a large number of Springbok players, will probably be unhappy that they were unable to reach the semifinal stage despite coming up against tough opposition.
But this was the first campaign in the competition for all of the teams and they will take a number of valuable lessons out of the experience.
Key among those, as admitted by Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen after their Challenge Cup quarterfinal defeat against Glasgow Warriors in Scotland, is trying to secure home playoffs.
“It’s similar to Super Rugby. The moment you reach a playoff, your chances of success are a lot higher if you’re playing at home. It’s something the Stormers showed us last year already in the URC,” explained Van Rooyen.
The Stormers are the perfect example for that in how they picked up the inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC) title on home soil, while they are also unbeaten at the Cape Town Stadium in the URC and Champions Cup since December 2021.
In this season’s URC they have racked up seven straight home wins already, while in their nine away games they have picked up five wins, three losses and two draws.
Improving that away form is also going to play a massive role in future success in the Champions and Challenge Cups, as the final of the competitions is a destination final, while securing home knockouts all the way to the semifinal stage will be a tall ask.
In the end, for a first season in the Champions and Challenge Cups for SA franchises, it was a decent showing, with only the Stormers underperforming if we are to be harsh.
The Bulls and Sharks were always going to be underdogs against French giants Toulouse in France (in thee last-16 and quarterfinals stages respectively), while the Cheetahs being knocked out by Toulon and the Lions by Glasgow, both away, was expected.
However, the Stormers were considered slight favourites against Exeter Chiefs, but were blown away by a brilliant first half showing by the hosts.
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