Last weekend, my Toulon teammates and I took a 32-hour flight to South Africa for the first Champions Cup match of the season.
It was a tough journey to Port Elizabeth and although we won the game against the Stormers, I feel it is important to talk about the experience personally. Because it raises many important points about how Europe’s top competition operates.
Last weekend we traveled to Toulon on Monday for a game on Saturday. It went like this (deep breath): bus from Toulon to Marseille, flight from Marseille to Frankfurt, flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth. It’s cruel. And we had to do the same thing in reverse on Sunday.
We arrived at 5pm on a Tuesday and the players were so exhausted that we only had one proper training session before the game. When we woke up Wednesday morning, no one was properly prepared to train. Everyone felt terrible.
We also weren’t helped by the fact that we had a huge start to the trip the weekend before Monday and had Perpignan in the top 14 at 9pm on Saturday night.
The return bus arrived at 6:30 Sunday morning.
Dan Biggar says European rugby must make significant changes to address South Africa’s problems.
According to Biggar, the impact of traveling long distances for matches is a real problem.
I woke up with the kids a few hours later, but had most of Sunday off before we met at 12pm on Monday for the trip. The French league did not help us!
It’s important to acknowledge the impact it has on players. The reality is that it is incredibly difficult for elite athletes to travel from Europe to South Africa for a one-off match.
Of course, the same applies when teams like the Sharks or Bulls come to the UK. The former travel to Welford Road to face Leicester on Saturday.
When the South African team qualified for the Champions Cup in the 2022-23 season after joining the United Rugby Championship in 2021, it was immediately clear that traveling long distances for matches would be problematic. It still is.
I completely understand why everyone wants South African rugby. They are two-time world champions. They have so many world-class players and bring significant TV revenue to Northern Hemisphere competitions. I think they have made a huge contribution to the URC, a league that also includes teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy.
However, there are important differences in the way the URC and Champions Cup are played.
When European teams travel to South Africa for URC matches, and vice versa, they usually tend to go for two weeks or more and play at least two games. It’s manageable.
You don’t do the best part of a two-day trip for one game.
Biggar (left) during the Champions Cup match against DHL Stormers in Gkeberha, South Africa.
I am not against South Africa at all. This is one of my favorite touring stops and the memories of captaining Wales to Test victory at Springbok soil will stay with me forever. However, there are real concerns about playing in European competitions.
On our way to South Africa we ran into Exeter Chiefs who were on a similar journey. Their lads were joking that they were basically playing the South African and French national teams for weeks as the Sharks and Toulouse were their first two matches!
Even though we got the result in South Africa, I don’t think we were in good enough shape as a team to give our best. This is important because the Champions Cup is considered the highest level of European club rugby.
We have seen the team field an already weak side due to the impact of travel. Last season, the Bulls left their regular starters at home for their quarter-final tie against Northampton. It was supposed to be a tent fixture, but instead it was one-sided. The Champions Cup is not like that. But teams defending second strings will continue to happen unless something changes.
So what should you do? If a South African team is to remain in the Champions Cup, the tournament will be restructured to have the team travel there for two weeks, like URC.
I know some fans might think that as players we should stop moaning and just get on with it. And when I did charity work with local children in Port Elizabeth last week in support of the Siya Kolisi Foundation, it certainly put a lot of things into perspective.
But we want the Champions Cup to be the best competition possible and at the moment teams are not being given the opportunity to perform at their best.
I’ve been on a lot of planes during that time. But on our way back from South Africa we were caught in a storm and it was a truly scary experience. There was lightning and severe turbulence all around us.
Biggar believes the team is not getting a chance to play at its best.
Toulon coach Pierre Mignoni absolutely hates flying at the best of times. Whenever he plays in France, he always uses the roads. He was going absolutely crazy on the return flight, panicked, holding on to the seat rail, and telling the club doctor that he would be fired if he didn’t give him sleeping pills!
Anyway it gave us a lot of laughs and cheered us on for a huge trip.
Most of the boys took sleeping pills to get on the plane. And when we arrived in Port Elizabeth, recovery king Kyle Sinckler was immediately organizing the sauna and other facilities to help us acclimate.
Kyle’s phone bill next month is going to be huge! When we went out to a place called Pool City after the game, he even bought me a beer.
The boys were buying big rounds. Kyle bought 150 bottles of beer in one go! The only good thing for him was that they only cost £1 each…
Our next game is at home to Glasgow on Sunday, which is a good thing. The coaches told us not to come in until Thursday because they wanted to give us time to recover from the trip. And honestly, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Speaking to some of the Stormers players after their game against them, it looks like they will be resting their best players for the trip to London to face Harlequins this weekend.
It’s a shame, but there’s nothing new either. That’s why I think something needs to change.
