GAVIN RICH: SA’s switch to URC was the right one

I know of at least one Springbok who would still rather be playing Super Rugby, but the reordering of the World Rugby rankings during the course of a riveting Six Nations season has confirmed that from a quality viewpoint the switch to the United Rugby Championship (URC) was the right one.

The Bok referred to won’t be alone. There are teething problems with playing a franchise/club competition across two hemispheres and the challenges are difficult to overcome.

When SA teams were competing in Super Rugby there were complaints about the travel challenge being weighted against local teams, but at least the Super Rugby tours were a one-off event in a season. Towards the end there were trips to Argentina and Japan/Singapore added, which drew some complaints, but for most of the Super Rugby era there were four overseas games spread across New Zealand and Australia.

The travel factor has improved this season, and when the Bulls and Lions head north this week it will only be for the second time that they do that to play URC games. But they did both play a four-game overseas tour at the start and both have been to Europe on two other occasions for their respective Champions Cup and Challenge Cup commitments.

The big complaint is the initial sell was that playing in Europe would mean an overnight flight, but costs have dictated teams travel the long haul route via the Middle East. There’s also the not insignificant fact that the URC has large portions of understrength rugby factored in. Super Rugby never clashed with the international calendar.

But the northern hemisphere competitions are where SA rugby should want to be, and the Six Nations reinforced that view. During the competition, Italy rose into the top nine in the world rankings, usurping Australia, who have dropped to 10th.

Italy’s win over Wales to conclude their best campaign, with two wins and a draw eclipsing their two wins in 2007, was even more of a statement than their triumph the previous week at home against Scotland. That is said from the viewpoint that for once Italy went to Cardiff as outright favourites. That brings extra pressure, yet they did the expected and got the job done.

They did more than that actually, don’t be fooled by the three-point winning margin. Wales scored two late tries to rob the Italy win of some of its gloss. But Italy were miles better, both on the day and in the tournament as a whole.

While I struggle to get my head around how the rankings work, the win should have been enough to lift Italy above Wales into eighth position, with Wales dropping to ninth. Yet the point about the statement made in favour of the URC as a quality tournament does not revolve on that swap in positions. Wales is also a nation represented in the URC.

In fact, they have twice as many teams in the competition as Italy, which does beg a question. Welsh rugby has its problems, and the sustainability of having four regional teams competing is highlighted in any analysis of where it’s going wrong. Maybe three Welsh teams, with the Cheetahs from SA added as the replacement for the side that drops out, will help both nations.

It would help SA because there’s enough player depth here to justify a fifth team, and it will help Wales because a more competitive showing in the URC, which will surely come if they streamline their challenge, will help their players develop.

The last three places on the log were taken by URC represented nations, but it was a Six Nations of fine margins. Scotland really should have been awarded what would have been a winning try at the death in their game against France. Had that score been awarded, they would have finished second, just three points behind the winners Leinster... um, that should be Ireland.

Which really is my point. The core of Europe’s champion international team is made up of the current URC leaders, Benetton have at times had as much as a two-thirds representation in the Italy team, and it is a similar story with Glasgow in the Scotland team.

It was also no coincidence that Italy’s dramatic leap has come in a season in which Benetton have for the most part been in the top four on the URC log. They’re not there at the moment but the confidence gained from Italy’s international campaign may just elevate them back there.

There are five URC nations in the top nine and the better four are built around URC teams. What does Super Rugby have? Against the URC, which has the top two nations on the rankings, SA and Ireland, Super Rugby has third-ranked New Zealand followed by 10th-placed Australia.

No wonder there’s so much talk of Super Rugby losing its lustre since the departure of SA.