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Stuff the traditionalists, SA inclusion in Europe has no downside - Andy Goode

Damian Willemse of Stormers celebrates their late try during the United Rugby Championship match between the Scarlets and Stormers at Parc y Scarlets on May 21, 2022 in Llanelli, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)

The addition of the South African sides to Europe’s premier club competitions has made a few waves this week but it is undoubtedly a progressive move and should be welcomed.

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George Bernard Shaw once said that progress is “impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” and the Nobel Prize winning Irishman’s words are certainly applicable in this instance.

Most of the resistance or negativity towards the move seems to revolve around old school romanticism, logistical issues or simply geography but I think those with such concerns need to get on board and embrace the future.

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James O’Connor joins the lads this week to walk us through his phenomenal and often misunderstood career. He talks to us about being the youngest player to line out in Super Rugby and for the Wallabies, struggling with alcohol, fame and partying, as well as playing in London, Manchester and Toulon before returning to Australia. One of the most talented players of his generation, he gives us an incredible insight into the highs and lows of his career so far and what his plans are next. Max and Ryan also cover off the Champions Challenge Cup Finals and the jubilant scenes in La Rochelle

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James O’Connor is brilliantly open about his life & career | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 36

James O’Connor joins the lads this week to walk us through his phenomenal and often misunderstood career. He talks to us about being the youngest player to line out in Super Rugby and for the Wallabies, struggling with alcohol, fame and partying, as well as playing in London, Manchester and Toulon before returning to Australia. One of the most talented players of his generation, he gives us an incredible insight into the highs and lows of his career so far and what his plans are next. Max and Ryan also cover off the Champions Challenge Cup Finals and the jubilant scenes in La Rochelle

Stuart Barnes even talked of the inclusion of the likes of the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls causing a “geographically sprawling switchoff” but I don’t see it at all and think it’s just a case of harking back to the old days rather than looking forward to an exciting new dawn.

It’s all very well talking about the winners no longer being the champions of Europe but the top competition has been called the Heineken Champions Cup rather than the European Cup for years now.

Stormers <a href=
Ospreys URC” width=”1024″ height=”576″ /> (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Of course, the fact that Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg will present a few scheduling and travel-related difficulties but the URC seem to have overcome those and EPCR will do the same.

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I don’t see a downside, though, and there’s no doubt that the quality of the competitions will improve as a result of the South African influence. The Stormers, Sharks and Bulls finished second, fourth and fifth in the URC this season.

That trio will be in the top tier of European competition on merit next season and to hold them back now they’re mixing it with the likes of Leinster and Ulster and finishing above Edinburgh, Munster and all the Welsh regions in the league would be wrong in sporting terms.

To be honest, it was inevitable that this would come to pass and just because it is doesn’t mean that South Africa are going to join the Six Nations as many people are saying.

Who knows what’ll happen further down the track but the Six Nations organisers issued a statement in February insisting they’re not currently planning to admit South Africa anytime soon and they have committed to the Rugby Championship in the immediate future.

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Bulls
Fans cheer during the United Rugby Championship match between Vodacom Bulls and Ulster at Loftus Versfeld on April 02, 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

It’ll be interesting to see how many fans travel to South Africa for games in comparison to how many travel to France and Italy, for example, but who wouldn’t want to go there for a visit if the opportunity presents itself.

I’ve played there in Super Rugby and I can tell you they’ll add a lot in terms of the appetite, rugby culture and adding a different flavour to proceedings and players will definitely fancy a trip over there both off the field and to test themselves on the field.

Change is always going to spark debate and cause consternation and there are more traditionalists in rugby than most sports but evolution is necessary.

The two-legged Round of 16 was an example of a positive change this season. That is back to a one-off tie next time around for various logisitical reasons but the inclusion of the South African sides is just the latest evolution.

In order to achieve progress and move forwards, people need to be able to change their minds. Thankfully EPCR have done so and the future of the Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup will be brighter for it.

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GrahamVF 979 days ago

One only has to look at the turnout at the two quarter finals over the weekend to see how popular the URC is in SA. And having watched most of the games in the Australian NZ add Pacific Island competition I think the winners in SA withdrawing from that competition was undoubtedly the SA franchises. There were frequent games in which over 100 points were scored and we can all make our conclusions about why. When you score a try in the URC you have earned it not because of weak tackling.

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kumar supriya 5 hours ago
Waratahs plotting unprecedented 29-season Super Rugby first in 2025

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kumar supriya 5 hours ago
Waratahs plotting unprecedented 29-season Super Rugby first in 2025

MY NAME IS SUPRIYA KUMAR FROM INDIA PLEASE FIND TIME TO READ THIS CAREFULLY.              AS WE ALL KNOW INDIA IS NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF MAGIC SO DO NOT IGNORE THIS. BE CAREFUL HERE, NOBODY CAN HELP YOU FROM AFRICA OR EVEN SUGGEST HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR EX OR LOVE BACK, ANY TESTIMONIES OF MOST SPELL CASTER FROM AFRICA HERE MUST BE IGNORED, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE SCAM I MEAN REAL SCAM AND FROM AFRICA WHICH I WAS A VICTIM AND I GOT RIPPED OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE I WAS SO ANXIOUS TO GET MY HUSBAND JOHN BACK AFTER HE LEFT ME FOR OVER 2YEARS WITH MY 3YEARS OLD SON JERRY,I HAVE APPLIED TO 7 DIFFERENT SPELL CASTER HERE I MET ON THIS BLOG AND ALL TO NO AVAIL THEY ALL ASK FOR SAME THING SEND YOUR NAME YOUR EX NAME ADDRESS AND PICTURE PHONE NUMBER ETC WHICH I DID OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND MOST OF THEM WERE FROM AFRICA, I WAS SO CONFUSED AND I WAS ALWAYS SICK BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM AND I WAS SO DESPERATE TO HAVE JOHN BACK TO ME I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND COULD DIE FOR HIM. UNTIL A FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS THE GREATEST SPELL TEMPLE, (templeofdreams1@gmail.com) TEMPLE OF BLACK AND WHITE (GOOD AND EVIL) IN INDIA, AND I DECIDED TO SEND A MAIL TO THE TEMPLE. THE SECRETARY TOLD ME THAT ALL MY PROBLEM ARE OVER SINCE I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT INDIA FOR HELP, HE TOLD ME TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN ME AND MY EX HUSBAND JOHN AND I DID, I TOLD HIM ALL THAT HAPPENED FROM THE BEGINNING. AND HE SAID TO ME MY CHILD WHAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED TO ME NOW IS A LITTLE PROBLEM TO HANDLE COMPARE TO SERIOUS PROBLEMS THE TEMPLE HAS HANDLED, I WAS SO SHOCKED AND I SAID TO MY SELF WHAT PROBLEM COULD BE MORE SERIOUS THAN THIS. HE TOLD ME WHAT I NEEDED TO DO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT WHAT HE SAID LOOK SIMILAR TO WHAT I HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST(THAT I WAS TO PAY FOR THE ITEMS NEEDED), I WAS HAVING DOUBT ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF PAST EXPERIENCE, BUT I DECIDED TO TRY SINCE THE TEMPLE IS LOCATED IN INDIA (ASIA) AND NOT AFRICA (NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA) THEY COULD BE REAL AND DIFFERENT. SO I GAVE THEM 50% OF MY TRUST. THIS WAS LIKE A MAGIC AND DREAM COME TRUE TO ME, AFTER TWO DAYS WHEN THE SPELL HAS BEEN CASTEED, JOHN BEEPED MY PHONE AT ABOUT 9:PM I COULD NOT SLEEP THAT NIGHT BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE JOHN AND WANT HIM BACK. BY 7:AM THE NEXT MORNING HE GAVE ME ANOTHER  MISSED CALL I DECIDED NOT TO CALL BACK AS I WAS STILL ON SHOCK,   AT ABOUT 10:AM THAT MORNING HE CALLED AND I PICKED HE SAID CAN WE SEE AFTER WORK TODAY I SAID YES SO HE ENDED THE CALL IMMEDIATELY I GOT OFF WORK HE CALLED ME AND TOLD ME WERE TO MEET HIM, I WAS STILL ON SHOCK, BEHOLD WHEN I GOT THERE I SAW JOHN CRYING WITH TEARS ALL OVER HIS EYES, AND HE SAID TO ME MY WIFE, I AM SO SORRY IMMEDIATELY I HUGGED HIM AND KISSED HIM WHICH I HAVE MISSED ALL THIS YEARS. ALL THANK TO TEMPLE OF DREAMS. IF YOU ARE A MAN OR A WOMAN READING THIS AND YOU ARE PASSING THROUGH SIMILAR PROBLEMS LIKE MINE, DO NOT FAIL TO CONTACT THIS GREAT TEMPLE. HE IS REALLY INDEED A REAL SPELL CASTER.           THE WORST OF ALL IS THAT I DON’T KNOW THE PARTICULAR DOCTOR THAT HELPED ME AS I WAS TOLD THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 300 SPELL CASTERS WORKING IN THE TEMPLE, UNLIKE THE SINGLE SCAM DOCTORS IN AFRICA. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE SPELL CASTERS IN AFRICA BECAUSE THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS ASSURED AND GAVE ME HUNDRED PERCENT PROTECTION AND ALSO HELPED ME RECOVER 50% OF MY MONEY THAT I PAYED TO SCAMS FROM AFRICA SOME SERVICES RENDERED IN THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS (1) If you want your ex back. (2) To cure HIV/AID or related illness (3) You want to be promoted in your office. (4) You want women/men to run after you. (5) If you want a child. (6) Are you a contractor and you want to win contract (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever. (8) If you need help spiritually. (9) How you been scammed and you want to recover you lost money.     (10)Stop Divorce (11)Invoking of Money Ritual (12)To verify if your online lover is real (13)To verify if your online loan is real (14)To be very brilliant (15)If you are looking for a good job (16)If you are old and want to look young (17) If you want to be free from threats of spell caster in AFRICA And many more.. Email... templeofdreams1@gmail.com  

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