South Africa hardly a weekend destination
I WONDER how many other club rugby supporters have become disillusioned with the Heineken Champions Cup.
The format has changes so much it’s almost unrecognisable from previous years. It could be argued that now we get to the instant knock-out stages it’s becoming interesting again, but surely the old format with fewer teams and playing others in your group has to return? But probably not as it would appear travelling supporters are the last consideration.
Take for instance my club Harlequins. For the first leg away to the Sharks in South Africa we had approximately 20 supporters who made the trip, no surprise when you look at the cost. Aside from that it’s approximately 11 hours each way, not making the trip a “European away weekend” as so many used to look forward to.
For the return leg at The Stoop there were possibly around the same amount of Sharks fans in the ground, it hardly creates a good atmosphere.
We are now faced with another trip to South Africa, again which very few will be able to afford.
Yet when we played Racing approximately 1,000 supporters travelled and made a memorable day (aside from result) and created a good atmosphere for the TV viewer.
Unfortunately I feel the tournament has lost a lot of its appeal due to almost zero consideration for the supporters. Perhaps if the South African sides have to be part of the competition they should set up in stadiums in Europe for the knock-out stages, and save the fans some money and the players the long flights, and not forgetting short turnarounds between games after long haul flights.