Rugby's congested playing schedule has its combatants at breaking point and some proper out-of-the-box thinking is required to alleviate the load on the players.
The problem is particularly acute in South Africa with players from the professional ranks competing in the United Rugby Championship, the Currie Cup and the Champions Cup, or Challenge Cup.
He is not the first one to float the idea, but Stormers director of rugby John Dobson is advocating using the derby component of the URC as part of the Currie Cup. The idea is to take the log points accrued in the SA Shield in the URC and mirror that on the Currie Cup points table. The four URC franchises would then be spared having to schedule matches against each other in the Currie Cup. Incorporating the SA Shield into the Currie Cup will help the oldest domestic rugby competition in the world regain some of its prestige as the country's top players would be competing in it. How the idea would sit with the respective sponsors is unclear.
Apart from the Currie Cup gaining some prestige, Dobson believes it would also make the SA Shield more meaningful.
As things stand, South Africa's URC coaches have to perform a delicate balancing act in the way they compose their squads and their match 23s.
“For us to compete in the URC and Champions Cup the players have to have a proper rest in the pre-season, which is during the Currie Cup. I'm going to take this 32 out of the Currie Cup. Last year we tried to mix and match but that is problematic,” explained Dobson.
He does, however, remain a fan of the Currie Cup. “I was one of the first guys leaning against the bar with a Windhoek Lager saying, ‘bring back the Currie Cup.’ Play it in June, July and August. Heartland rugby months.
“We have a couple of Rugby Championship games in the evening. Argentina play at a funny time, as do Australia and New Zealand. It would be lekka. But it doesn't work. It's actually better to go during the URC because we have all these extra players who don't have game time. Maybe if you can play that on a Friday night, or a Sunday I think it's got more chance.”
Dobson does not believe “the big URC teams” (excluding the Lions) can play their players in the Currie Cup in the slot it now occupies. “It's a pity and I don't know what the solution is,” he admitted.
Dobson admitted he had performed the mental exercise of determining which players will be rested and not have any part in the Currie Cup.
You might think the easy way to alleviate the load on players is to enlarge squads by offering more contracts. Franchises, however, need to stay inside the squad salary cap that was set R85m for the 2023/24 season. SA Rugby is desperate for their franchises to operate within their means. Franchise owners, however, especially the ambitious ones want squads that can compete with the top clubs in Europe.
The limitations under which South African teams operate is particularly apparent in the Champions Cup. Their resources are stretched in that competition when they come up against well-stocked European and English elite.
This season no South African teams qualified for the last 16 of the Champions Cup. Some took the strategic decision that it would be better consolidating before launching a fresh campaign next season by qualifying through the URC. They simply need to reach the top eight.
In the meantime, however, the fixture logjam persists.
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