SA teams to play in Europe if they earn 'home' Champions Cup semis

17.01.2023 - 08:39 news24.com

South African franchises will have to 'host' any potential Champions Cup semi-finals in Europe and not in South Africa, competition organiser EPCR told AFP on Monday.

In what was previously rugby union's European continental club championship, three South African franchises - the Bulls of Pretoria, the Sharks of Durban and the Stormers of Cape Town - qualified this year for the first time.

The Champions Cup semi-finals will take place "in Europe", said an EPCR spokesperson, confirming reports on Irish website The42.ie."This is an agreement with SARU (the South African rugby federation)," the spokesperson said.

The Bulls, Stormers and Sharks, however, will be able to stage games in South Africa in the last 16 and quarter-finals."If the South African teams qualify for the semi-finals, the matches will take place in Europe," said another source close to the matter.The only rider to that is if two of them qualify to meet in the same semi in which case the match can be played in South Africa.

Sharks Bulls Rugby cup Jake White South Africa Ireland Cape Town Dublin Durban Pretoria

The South African tennis team went down 4-1 to Luxembourg in their Davis Cup World Group II playoff in Esch-sur-Alzette at the weekend.

Egypt's Al Ahly to play Real Madrid in Club World Cup semi-final

TANGIER : A deflected shot handed Egypt’s Al Ahly a late winner as they edged Seattle Sounders 1-0 at the Club World Cup in Morocco on Saturday to book a semi-final against Real Madrid next week.

URC WRAP | SA teams in Europe: When and where your side is in action

Friday, 27 January

Faldo: LIV players should be barred from Ryder Cup

Six-time major champion and former broadcaster Nick Faldo said that players who jumped to the upstart LIV Golf series should not be allowed to play in the Ryder Cup, saying "you've got to move on." "They're done," Faldo told Sky Sports News. "It's a rival tour. If you work for a company for 20 years and you then leave to go to a rival company, I can promise you your picture won't still be on the wall. You've moved on. Fine, off you go. "They made that decision and I'm sure they knew it was going to cost them," he added.

Cameron Smith joins list of top names to play in Saudi International golf championship

Riyadh: Australian professional golfer Cameron Smith has joined a growing list of top international players confirming their participation in the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.

SA teams have turned Champions Cup 'upside down' - Toulouse coach

Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola said on Sunday that South African sides "have turned things upside down" in the Champions Cup after his French club secured a last 16 home tie against the Bulls with a 20-16 win over Munster.