Springbok reputations on the line as Champions Cup playoffs loom

The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers have come in for criticism after their latest round of defeats, and if they don’t bounce back this coming weekend — against Pau, Clermont and Leicester, respectively — they will fail to qualify for the Champions Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.

The manner and margin of the recent losses are cause for concern, and have sparked yet another debate about whether the South African teams deserve their seats at the top table.

That said, the tournament itself has come in for criticism, and as recent results confirm, most of the teams are struggling to field their best combinations on a weekly basis.

Widespread problems

Results over the first three rounds of the tournament highlight a widespread problem.

Of the 36 pool matches so far, the home teams have won 26 (72%) — and in 17 of those 36 matches (47%), the margin of victory was 20 or more points.

The South African teams have some soul-searching to do. The Bulls and Sharks were not competitive in the recent matches in Europe, while the Stormers lost 61-10 to Harlequins in London last week.

And yet, the French clubs — as a collective — have fared worse than any other nation in away fixtures this season.

French teams have finished on the wrong side of a big defeat (20 points or more) in eight of the recent 36 matches, while Northampton Saints became the second English side to lose by a substantial margin when they went down 50-28 in Bordeaux last week.

Extraordinary travel demands as well as the challenge of competing across two major tournaments have informed selection policies in recent seasons.

While it’s easy to sympathise with the decisions of the coaches, it’s impossible to accept that the Champions Cup — in its present form — is a world-class tournament that regularly pits the best against the best.

Motivation in question

It wasn’t too long ago when players were selected for their country’s national team off the back of impressive performances in marquee club matches.

Cheslin Kolbe caught the eye of Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus back in 2018 after excelling in the Champions Cup with Toulouse, while Jasper Wiese forced his way into the national set-up in 2021 following an impressive season in England and Europe with Leicester.

When the Stormers and Bulls qualified for the 2022 URC final, Erasmus and then head coach Jacques Nienaber said that the high-stakes clash would double as a national trial — and later that season, star performers such as Manie Libbok and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu were drafted into the Test squad.

The situation has changed in South African rugby over the past few years.

While the Boks won 86% of their Tests in 2025, the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers all failed to qualify for the Champions Cup playoffs, and the Bulls lost 32-7 to Leinster in the United Rugby Championship final in Dublin.

As a result, all three franchises made significant personnel and tactical changes over the ensuing seven months.

The Stormers have reaped the benefits of those changes — winning 10 of their first 11 matches of the season — but the Bulls and Sharks have continued to struggle across both competitions.

Inevitably, critics at home and abroad have asked why the players who excel for the Boks fail to replicate that form on the club stage.

“South Africans don’t seem as motivated to play for their club sides in Europe as they seem to do when they play for the Springboks,” noted former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio, commenting on the Stormers’ heavy defeat to Harlequins last week.

The point has been made before, and the Bulls and Sharks have copped the most flak.

The Sharks have the most Boks, but managed to qualify for the URC semifinals only once. The Bulls boast a host of World Cup-winners in their ranks, but have lost seven in a row this season.

Boks must stand tall

The Bulls and Sharks must win their matches this weekend to improve their chances of qualifying for the Champions Cup playoffs, but they will also need a couple of other results to go their way.

The Stormers are best placed to advance to the next round. If they beat Leicester in Cape Town on Saturday, they will secure a home fixture in the round of 16, and if they bag five log points, they will enjoy a more favourable route to the quarterfinals.

The senior Boks in all three teams will be under scrutiny.

Handré Pollard’s game management and goalkicking have not been up to standard in recent weeks, and the Bok veteran will want to remind fans why he could still be an asset to the national team.

Ruan Nortje, Wilco Louw and other heavyweights in that Bulls pack have to deliver a physical statement against Pau, who are currently second in the French Top 14.

JP Pietersen took a second-string Sharks side to Manchester last week, and the team lost 26-10 to Sale.

This Saturday, Siya Kolisi, André Esterhuizen and several other returning Boks will have a point to prove against Clermont — although a comfortable home victory is expected, given that the French side has sent a weakened squad to Durban.

Like Pietersen, Stormers boss John Dobson decided to save many of his star players for the fourth and final pool clash.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Salmaan Moerat and other international players will boost the cause when the Stormers tackle the Tigers on Saturday, but the quality of the performance may be as important as the result.

Dobson described the 51-point loss to Harlequins as humiliating and embarrassing, and he will view the next clash as an opportunity to make a statement.

It may be too late for the Bulls and Sharks to revive their campaigns, but for now, the Stormers have the potential to go deep in the Champions Cup tournament — and to challenge the narrative that South African teams don’t have what it takes to compete in the European showpiece. DM