Prop Neethling Fouche backed up his coach, stating that the players were desperate to keep playing in the top-flight European competition.
Stormers prop Neethling Fouché and director of rugby John Dobson during a Stormers press conference. Picture: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
The Stormers added their voice to the furore around the South African franchises participation in the Champions Cup, by emphatically stating that they wanted to stay in it, despite the noise from overseas.
A week-and-a-half ago, after it was announced that SA Rugby would be conducting a broad review into the competitions that their franchises competed in as they looked to improve player welfare, media reports overseas exploded with accusations suggesting that meant they would be pulling out of the Champions Cup.
Since then plenty has been written about whether that would actually come to pass, various coaches and players have been asked about what they think about that possibility, and earlier this week it was the turn of Stormers director of rugby John Dobson to be questioned on the matter.
“I think we were probably an amoeba’s fingernail from being in the quarter-final this year and that shows progress,” Dobson said about his team’s incredibly tight last 16 defeat to French giants Toulon.
“Toulon went on from that game and showed what a good team they are (by making the semifinals where they almost came back to stun Leinster). Fixtures against teams like Leicester, La Rochelle, Harlequins and Toulouse are massive inventory for the Stormers and for the people of Cape Town.
“To have that taken away would be hellishly disappointing. There is no player welfare issue around us competing in the Champions Cup.
“There is that one game a season where we are forced to go with an understrength team overseas, but as we get better and our depth improves and the youngsters come through, because we have a different contracting model to deal with it, we will be better in that fixture in the future.”
Players perspective
Stormers prop Neethling Fouché backed up his coach, stating that the players themselves were desperate to keep playing in the Champions Cup, and although the SA rugby watching public hadn’t gotten fully behind it yet, it would just take a bit of time to get everyone on board.
“As players we understand the magnitude of the Champions Cup and the prestige that comes with it. You just had to watch the final (between Bordeaux Begles and Leinster) in Bilbao and see the fans and the hype around that game to know that those are the big games you just want to play in,” said Fouché.
“I think it will take a bit of time, but I think as we progress the South African fans will start recognising the level of competition more and more. It’s more a situation of maybe not fully understanding the two competitions and the differences between them but the fans will get used to it and buy into it.
“If you follow soccer you know you have the Premier League and then you have the Champions League. The Champions Cup is the Champions League, the top of the top. We want to stay involved as long as we can.
“It’s about playing the big teams, it’s about going to France and experiencing the culture and level of rugby you encounter there, and it’s just massive for us as the Stormers and hopefully it lasts a long time.”
