Opinion
Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie has made extraordinary claims recently that a competition called the United Rugby Shield could be unveiled by the end of the month.
According to reports, such a competition is not in the hands of the United Rugby Championship or the South African Rugby Union, but the later has come to the table.
Fourie claimed that the competition was “sort of a B-division URC”.
It seems that many people have missed the “sort of” aspect of Fourie’s claims.
Many people quickly pondered whether there could be a relegation and promotion system coming, but the idea of promotion seems unlikely for a variety of reasons. Currently there are no plans for URC to expand, with the focus instead on the stability of the new competition.
The URC also seems set on having no more than four South African teams in the interest of keeping balanced pools of four. Introducing promotion and regulation would create chaos, as the shuffling pools would then be required year on year. This didn’t work last time when the Pro14 has two pools, let alone four.
So what is this potential competition and who might be involved?
Looking back to last year, the Cheetahs played Diables Barcelona, a newly established professional team from the capital of Catalonia. The Cheetahs won 99-15 in what they were calling the Toyota Challenge Shield.
The backers of the Diables Barcelona group mentioned that they intended to start a new competition late last year. It was also reported that there would potentially be a team from Madrid and other teams from South Africa, most likely the Griquas and Pumas.
From what has been seen in recent history, one could predict that the competition will be a separate entity from the URC. Yet all is still to be revealed, reportedly at the end of the month.
It will be interesting to see if teams from the European Super Cup, such as the Black Lion from Georgia – who also play in the Currie Cup first division – and the Iberians from Valladolid, will be involved as well. But it will be even more interesting still to see if these teams will take part in the Challenge Cup, Champions Cup or European Super Cup.
While speculation is fun, time reveals all secrets. All we can do is wait for more information.
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