Doha – In their pursuit of success, South African rugby teams must have meticulous travel arrangements.
It is hardly a surprise that the Stormers and Bulls played in the inaugural United Rugby Championship final, given that South African Super Rugby teams have historically suffered.
While the New Zealand teams were strong, most South African players and coaches will tell you that the trip to Australasia weakened their team.
Due to the comparable time zones, traveling to Europe for URC matches is significantly more convenient. However, there is always room for improvement, which is why the Qatar Airways alliance unveiled on Sunday in Doha would greatly simplify the lives of the South African teams.
Bulls head coach Jake White addressed yesterday at the local URC season launch in Midrand about some of the obstacles they had to overcome during the previous season in order to qualify for Europe, and things would intensify in 2022-23 with participation in the Champions Cup.
“It is not ideal to travel across the world to reach Europe. “Flying economy class is also not ideal,” added White.
“One of the selling factors to the players was that when we flew business class from Super Rugby to Sydney, we wouldn’t be that far from home that often” (by playing in Europe).
“But we could travel to Exeter one week, return home the next week to play here, and then return to URC” (in Europe). And if you are traveling economy class and must travel around the globe to get there…
“I am aware that we now have an airline sponsor in Qatar, so maybe this issue can be resolved.”
With Qatar Airways’ world-class Qsuite business-class section, which was named the best in the world at the 2021 Skytrax World Airline Awards, this issue should be resolved.
Despite the fact that the Qatar purchase will ease practical travel issues, the entire transaction could be a game-changer in the world of rugby.
Even European Professional Club Rugby’s chief executive, Anthony Lepage, stated at the Doha event on Sunday that the “traditional” rugby market must be expanded and new frontiers explored.
Martin Anayi, the chief executive officer of the URC, noted that rugby organizations “have all been functioning in silos for too long… someone believes that someone else is performing better than them. The reality is that professionalization of the game is still in its infancy.”
Considering where rugby was during the Covid-19 blackout – SA Rugby alone had to reduce their budget by R1.2 billion during that time – the Qatar cooperation has shown the way.
The continuous search for a solution to a worldwide rugby calendar frequently leads in English and French clubs being blamed for their refusal to change their season, yet sacrifices are required from all parties.
Rugby is a niche sport in terms of its global footprint, but in order for it to survive, grow, and become truly popular worldwide, all parties involved must collaborate and find new solutions by bringing in new partners and ideas – even if it means upsetting the “old farts,” as Will Carling put it previously…
As in football and Formula 1, the oval-ball game must develop to the point where its greatest players and coaches are compensated closer to their real capacity.
@AshfakMohamed
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