Scrutiny of SA's Euro shocker

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OPINION: The results and key scoring stats show how South Africa's top teams regressed in the latest edition of the Champions Cup.

The Bulls and Sharks recorded one win apiece across the 2024/25 Champions Cup pool phase and failed to qualify for the Champions Cup play-offs for the first time.

Both will have the opportunity to redeem themselves in the Challenge Cup knockout phase.

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The reaction to recent results has been somewhat fatalistic.

Top players represent the Springboks from July to November, and their respective clubs and franchises in the Champions Cup and various domestic tournaments over 10 months each season.

The situation has been exacerbated by the extensive travel schedule, and there's reason to believe that a South African side will never win the Champions Cup unless the format is changed or a global season is implemented.

Perhaps that is why there's been a collective shrug of the shoulders in some quarters following some desperately poor results in this year's tournament.

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Some of the coaches have expressed their disappointment, but have called for stakeholders to move on – as if such an epic failure doesn't warrant further scrutiny.

Fortunately, some heavy hitters are calling the coaches as well as the players out for their complacency.

This past Sunday, retired Springbok Victor Matfield didn't hold back in his assessment of the South Africa teams.

Breyton Paulse – another retired Bok, who like Matfield spent part of his career in Europe – also called for the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks to take some responsibility for the underwhelming results and performances.

It needed to be said, because while the scheduling challenges continue to hold South African teams back, the respective franchises have been unacceptably poor in recent months.

Let's be clear, this isn't a criticism of the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks' failure to win the Champions Cup.

This is a criticism of their inability to qualify for the first round of the play-offs.

When South Africa's top teams joined the Champions Cup ahead of the 2022/23 season, expectations were certainly tempered.

Experts such as Matfield, Paulse and others said it would be some time before the franchises adapted to the local conditions, the standard of the competition, and the overriding challenge of competing across two major tournaments, such as the Champions Cup and the United Rugby Championship.

By the end of that inaugural campaign, critics at home and abroad noted that South Africa had made a positive start to their European adventure.

The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers won all of their home games during the pool phase, with the coastal sides going on to win their respective Round of 16 matches in local conditions.

After all three teams lost the ensuring play-offs in Europe, most stakeholders accepted those results as a valuable learning experience. Home advantage has been such an influential factor throughout the history of this tournament, and that this was also taken into account.

So what happened the following season? All three teams improved to some degree.

The Bulls and Stormers arrived in Europe ready for the challenge, and while they didn't win the title, they showed signs of progress.

The Sharks didn't qualify for the Champions Cup due to their poor performances in the preceding URC. They did, however, go on to win the Challenge Cup – and prove that a South African side can succeed in successive knockout fixtures staged in the Northern Hemisphere.

Throughout the 2023/24 Champions Cup, the South African teams remained unbeaten on home soil.

On the road, the Bulls managed to win their first game in Europe, while the Stormers claimed an inaugural victory in France.

The Bulls' worst result was the 22-59 defeat in the quarterfinal at Northampton Saints, while the Stormers recorded their worst result in an away match against Leicester (26-35).

Overall, these teams were competitive throughout the tournament and finished their respective campaigns with a positive points-difference.

What's more, they also appeared to be showing some progress away from home.

The Bulls averaged 10 points for and 36 against in overseas fixtures staged during the 22/23 campaign, and then 27 for and 35 against in 23/24.

On the road, the Stormers averaged 16 points for and 33 against in the inaugural Champions Cup, and then 26 for and 32 against in the second edition.

Both teams bolstered their squads in the off-season, while a Sharks side stacked with Boks returned to the Champions Cup ahead of the 24/25 showpiece.

There was reason for all stakeholders to be optimistic about the 24/25 campaign.

While nobody expected the Bulls, Sharks or Stormers to finish the season on the winners podium in Cardiff, all and sundry hoped for further signs of progress.

Instead, all three teams fared worse than any pessimist could have predicted.

After making progress in their second season in the elite tournament, the top South African teams showed signs of regression in the third.

The Bulls lost a pool match at home for the first time – 21-30 to Northampton Saints in Round Two – as did the Stormers.

The game against Toulon was staged in Port Elizabeth rather than Cape Town, but there was no excuse for the Stormers' careless showing, which contributed to a 14-24 loss.

Every team in the competition emphasizes home fixtures.

And yet, the Bulls and Stormers were inexplicably off the pace in arguably the most important pool games of the season. Ultimately, both failed to garner as much as a losing bonus point.

Sadly, the overseas leg of the campaign was something of a write-off.

In his recent criticism of the South African franchises, Matfield questioned the attitude of the teams travelling abroad.

While it's tough to win on the road, it's disappointing to note just how poorly the franchises have fared in Europe over the past few months.

The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers combined for six straight losses.

For the first time since the tournament expanded in 22/23, no South African side won an overseas game during the pool phase. No South African side claimed as much as a losing bonus point from these six fixtures.

Any coach will tell you that it's impossible to select a first-choice combination every week, especially across a season that spans 10 months.

But as Matfield observed, the coaches could have done better regarding their management of the players in the recent campaign.

Matfield cited Rassie Erasmus' management of the Boks across the 2024 Test season – where the coach used 51 players as well as different combinations from game to game.

Erasmus often paired a veteran with a rookie in a specific combination, and attempted to strike the right balance throughout the team.

Had the franchise coaches adopted a more balanced approach, their teams may have been more competitive and finished the pool phase with sufficient log points to qualify for the next round.

When you put it like this, it doesn't seem overly ambitious.

In competitions like the Champions Cup, you're not trying to win every match, but to accumulate enough points to qualify for the knockouts.

As it was, weakened teams were often sent abroad in the recent campaign.

Overall, the South African sides fared worse in 24/25 than they had in previous seasons.

The Bulls averaged eight points for and 38 against on the road, while the Stormers averaged 19 for and 42 against.

The Sharks marked their return to the Champions Cup with an average of 15 points for and 61 against. Back in 22/23, they averaged 25 for and 47 against at overseas venues.

You don't need to remember the scores of previous fixtures or have a calculator at hand to understand why the 24/25 campaign was such a disappointment in relation to those that came before.

The most recent loss at Bordeaux – a 10-66 defeat – was a black eye for the Sharks as well as for South African rugby as a whole.

There's no denying that the South Africa teams have been impacted by a never-ending schedule and that a large number of players have been sidelined for significant periods.

At the same time, the numbers show how each of the teams has regressed, and why they should accept some responsibility for their failures.

In the lead-up to the 2024/25 season, many of us wondered how many of the South African teams would secure home advantage in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals.

But in the build-up to the next edition of the all-important tournament, we will ask whether any of these teams can qualify for the play-offs – because a precedent has been set.

No matter how you look at it, recent club results have set South African rugby a couple of years.

@rugby365com