SA Rugby make stance clear on Club World Cup as CEO claims it will ‘force our teams to take the Champions Cup seriously’ due too….

SA Rugby chief claims Club World Cup announcement ‘somewhat premature’ but reckons it will ‘force teams to take the Champions Cup seriously’ Due too….

Bulls taking on Stade Francais during another disappointing Champions Cup campaign and SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer.

SA Rugby chief executive Rian Oberholzer insists that there is still a lot of work to be done if the Club World Cup is to well and truly get off the ground.

On Saturday, it was officially announced that a new competition of 16 teams will take place in 2028, which sees clubs from the two hemispheres go head-to-head.

Eight of the sides will be from the Champions Cup, Super Rugby will have seven qualify and the final outfit coming from Japan.

It will happen every four years and will effectively replace the Champions Cup knockout stages in Europe, with Oberholzer in support of the idea.

The SA Rugby chief believes that a Club World Cup is “something that has been lacking in world rugby competition between the cream of the northern and southern hemispheres.”

South Africa’s Champions Cup struggles

Oberholzer also claims that it will provide useful motivation for the South African franchises given their poor results in the Champions Cup, adding: “It will force SA teams to take the Champions Cup seriously.”

As for some of the key details surrounding the competition, particularly the finances and schedule, the CEO insists that they still need to be ironed out.

“The financial aspect is something that still needs to be figured out,” he told Rapport. “At this stage, only projections have been made, but if accurate, the Club World Cup could be financially beneficial.

“Officially, no structures have been put in place yet, and no broadcasting rights or sponsorships have been sold. So the financial impact will only be determined in the future.

“The announcement is somewhat premature, with a lot of detail outstanding, and we don’t have all the answers yet.”

EPCR’s view

EPCR chairman Dominic McKay discussed the prospect of a Club World Cup before Bordeaux-Begles overcame Northampton Saints in a magnificent Champions Cup final on Saturday.

“We’ve had some great discussions throughout the weekend talking about the future of our sport and particularly some exciting projects that relate to EPCR,” McKay said

“One of those projects is the World Club Cup.

“This is something we’ve spoken about at EPCR for the last two or three years – we’ve been trying to work our way through this project to see if we can deliver it.

“And over the last few days we’ve had great meetings with our Board, great meetings with our General Assembly, who represent the three leagues and stakeholders from seven unions, and everyone is unanimous about wanting to delier a World Club Cup through EPCR.”