Rigours of Champions Cup: Toulouse get to taste the demands of crossing the equator in tough clash with Sharks

South African teams have long pointed to its pitfalls but it was the turn of much decorated Stade Toulousain (Toulouse) coach Ugo Mola to lament the rigours of playing in the Champions Cup.

His team battled a belligerent Sharks team and the stifling Durban humidity before leaving Kings Park 20-8 victors on Saturday but the taxing journey from France and short turnaround time was not lost on the coach either.

“It is hard for us. Honestly, it is complicated. The logistics, the travel, and the quality of the game,” said the engaging coach. “You need to prepare for the weather, the conditions, for the opposition but it is a good experience for us.”

Well aware the congested schedule does not allow for such excess Mola said if he could, he would have a break either side of long-haul travel to and from South Africa.

“Maybe if I could change something it is perhaps to have more time to prepare. We played La Rochelle last week and then travelled to South Africa. But this was a good opportunity for the players and the coach. I prefer when we have the capacity to prepare more,” said Mola.

Not that he needed it but his Sharks counterpart John Plumtree was served another reminder of what it requires to be competitive in the Champions Cup.

Even if they had all their personnel available, competing in the Champions Cup and the United Rugby Championship requires vast squad depth.

The Sharks' situation was worsened by injuries to front-line players lock Eben Etzebeth, centre André Esterhuizen, fullback Aphelele Fassi, as well as locks Gerbrandt Grobler and Emile van Heerden among others.

Tighthead prop Vincent Koch appears to have joined that group after suffering a bang to the head on Saturday.

As much as they have spent over the last few seasons, the lack of squad depth remains a handbrake not just for the Sharks but the other South African franchises. They are hamstrung by having to remain inside an R85m salary budget for their squad.

Plumtree joked that he could ask franchise owner Marco Masotti for a bigger budget but he believes increased exposure in the Champions Cup will also help bridge the gap to some of the competition's heavy hitters like Toulouse.

“We are new. We are three seasons in and they've been playing European Cup for a while,” Plumtree pointed out. “In five years’ time we won't be talking about that. Every South African side will have a good squad but it is going to take a little bit of time.

“Our players go overseas. It would be great if those players came back, or don't go.”

In the context of Saturday's game Plumtree believes had he been able to call on the players currently in their infirmary, the Sharks might have provided a plot change or two.

“If we had a full-strength Sharks side out there it would have made things more interesting. I don't want to discredit the players we had out there. Everyone tried really hard. It is obviously a little disrupting losing players every week through injury. It just shows you in this calendar that the squad has to be quality.”

Toulouse's man of the match lock Emmanuel Meafou did not want to be drawn into what might have been had he and his teammates squared up with Etzebeth and Co.

“Those are ifs and buts. The reality is what happened out there. I don't know what might have happened had they played. They are Springboks and quality players. Those boys were rested or injured. I don't know how that might have changed the result.

With the defending champions winning their first three games on the trot, Meafou was confident Toulouse could add a record seventh star to their Champions Cup jersey.

“We want to win this one and the next and the next. We are capable of going back-to-back,” said the lock.