Squad depth key for SA teams in next URC season, says boss Anayi

The South African teams are gearing themselves for a big step up in their second season of the United Rugby Championship (URC) which kicks off next weekend.

It was a brilliant first season in the competition for local sides, who upset the odds to make it an all SA final in Cape Town where the Stormers deservedly edged out the Bulls in a thrilling finale to be crowned inaugural champions.

A URC launch was held on Tuesday at Vodaworld in Midrand, hosted by Vodacom and SuperSport in partnership with SA Rugby, with URC CEO Martin Anayi joining proceedings via teleconference, where he said that the local teams would be facing a new challenge this season.

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“This season will be a big step up (for the South African teams) as they will be playing on even more fronts. They (SA teams) already play in the Currie Cup and URC and now you have the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup as well,” explained Anayi.

“To be able to engage in that competition in a meaningful way you have to use your squad really well. You are going to come up against French and English sides who you have not met before.

“So it’s a new challenge but it’s part of the design of the competition and it makes the URC even better that you have these teams qualifying for the Champions Cup.”

Better prepared

Anayi believes that now that the northern sides have had a good look at the SA teams, they will also be better prepared for them in the second season.

“They (northern teams) will certainly be more aware of what South African teams will bring both home and away. At the front end of the tournament we will have the Springboks (players) coming in to play a little bit later,” said Anayi.

“So they will know once the Springboks return what to expect and they will also have a good idea of the depth of the South African teams now.

“So our teams from the old Pro12 are going to be ready and in a slightly better position to understand the quality they are going to come up against on the pitch.”

Anayi was also very happy with the way the first season turned out, admitting that it couldn’t have finished any better with the SA teams joining the competition.

“It was a fantastic URC season one. From an audience point of view it broke the records we had hoped and targets we had set,” said Anayi.

“The results we got, with the South African teams being so competitive and winning season one. The Stormers in Cape Town against a good, strong Bulls side, I don’t think we could have scripted that any better had we tried.”