Stormers win has changed everything for Irish sides in how they should view URC

Plans to include the four biggest South African Super Rugby teams had been in train for some time, but the pandemic made the logistics difficult for organisers and the launch ended up being rushed as a result.

At times, the campaign teetered on the brink. The new sides flattered to deceive in the opening stages and lost a succession of early games.

The emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, and the resulting travel chaos that engulfed four teams as Europe and Britain closed their borders to South Africa, raised questions over the viability of a competition that takes place across such a large geographical area. At times, it seemed a farcical endeavour.

And yet, in June the tournament was treated to a run of knockout fixtures that screamed viability.

Two epic semi-finals were followed by an occasion fitting of a big tournament in a sparkling stadium in Cape Town as the home-town Stormers overcame the Bulls and celebrated with an open-top bus tour of the city.

It’s as if nobody told them that the Celtic/Magners League/RaboDirect PRO12/Guinness PRO12/14 doesn’t really matter.

In this neck of the woods, the competition has always been viewed as something of a consolation prize if you couldn’t nail Europe. Ireland’s provinces dominate the list of winners but – apart from Connacht’s victory in 2016 which inspired two books – few stories are told of these victories; especially in comparison to the European victories they stand alongside.

It’s not just the teams who have a stand-offish relationship with the URC, the fans failed to deliver for the knockout games when they arrived in June. The Kingspan Stadium was far from full as Ulster gave a sparkling performance to defeat Munster, while the Leinster faithful failed to show in force for their knockouts against Glasgow and the Bulls.

There are mitigating circumstances in each case, but there’s a sense that the provinces are being a little bit sniffy about something they can’t afford to treat as secondary any longer.

Leinster’s 2018 Heineken Champions Cup success is the only Irish European win in a decade, their visits to the 2019 and 2022 finals are the only other final appearances by Irish sides. Surely, you have to earn the right to turn your nose up at the only other trophy on offer?

You can’t really accuse Leinster of taking it lightly, given they came into last season on the back of four titles in a row, but the Bulls’ sacking of the RDS was a wake-up call.

They don’t have to be at their best against the Welsh, Scots and the Italians, but the South Africans will test them to the limits. Although they were slow to get going and Covid made it all very challenging, there’s no doubt that the Lions, Sharks, Stormers and Bulls have added to this competition.

They’re well-supported, have strong squads and bring a rare mix of raw power up front and pace out wide.

As well as that, they bring a bullish confidence to the table that the Welsh, Scottish and Italian sides just can’t muster. They see no reason to defer to the provinces.

Too often, the matches in this tournament are processions for the provinces. In particular, there is a template to RDS fixtures that resembles the battle between lions and slaves in the old Roman amphitheatres.

While the old competition served a purpose as a development vehicle at times, for the future of the provinces it’s far better to have a viable, difficult competition that features close games and drama in terms of putting bums on seats.

Each of the Irish sides has their challenges coming in. 

Under new coach Graham Rowntree, Munster must evolve their attack behind a forward pack that fails to convince against the biggest sides.

Ulster beat Leinster twice last year and were seconds from a home final, but find themselves back at the start line having to do it all again.

Connacht have to try and find some consistency after a hit-and-miss campaign, while Leinster won’t answer the questions hanging over them until it’s do or die at the end of the season. They remain the strongest side in the tournament.

The schedule means they’ll all get to know one another well by the end of the Christmas season and those derbies, shown on free-to-air TV, mean there’ll be lots of eyeballs watching from the off.

If Covid is less of a factor, the tournament – despite the PR own-goal of partnering with Qatar – has a real chance to develop.

It still looks like an Irish-South African carve-up, but the Scots should be stronger. The Welsh and the Italians are unlikely to make major strides.

The URC is far from perfect, but it’s way better than it was and if the Irish provinces don’t take it seriously they’ll get burnt again.