Cheetahs director of rugby Frans Steyn has revealed that he is not a fan of the United Rugby Championship and would prefer South African teams to return to Super Rugby.
Last year, Steyn said that he is hopeful that the Cheetahs could make a move to a southern hemisphere competition like Super Rugby.
The Bloemfontein-based outfit had initially participated in the old PRO14 tournament, along with fellow South African side the Southern Kings from 2017 to 2021, but both teams were kicked out of that competition with the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers brought into replace them to form the 16-club United Rugby Championship (URC) which started during the 2021/22 season.
Made his feelings known
And when ex-All Blacks and Crusaders full-back Israel Dagg expressed his displeasure last year at the decision which led to South Africa’s departure from Super Rugby, Steyn tweeted a response which said: “There are other teams in SA that want the opportunity!!”
The Cheetahs are currently participating in the Challenge Cup competition and also compete in South African tournaments like the Currie Cup.
The 2007 and 2019 Rugby World Cup winner with the Springboks represented the Cheetahs and Sharks in South Africa during his playing days, but also had stints at overseas clubs like Montpellier and Racing 92 (in France) and Toshiba Brave Lupus (in Japan).
Despite those spells abroad, he said he prefers for South African teams not to play in the northern hemisphere.
Steyn acknowledged the importance of the URC but said he is not a fan of the time of year that the competition is being held and said he still prefers Super Rugby.
“So the last couple of months, I realised that the URC is quite a big thing,” he said on the Behind The Ruck podcast. “Especially, guys want derby games and all of that.
Prefers Super Rugby
“For me personally, I think we should go back to the old Super Rugby.”
The 38-year-old feels Super Rugby is a special tournament and said he enjoyed the touring aspect of that competition.
“I just think there was something else (with that tournament). It was something different. I think the young guys of today definitely miss out.
“If you think of when we went on tours and four and five-week tours, it was one tour, not every second week on a plane. (It’s) A stupid thing, this new calendar that we are in. If you have kids, you never have off.
“You can’t go on holiday. When do you go on holiday? And then December. Normally, we went away in December. Now you have to play.
“I remember when I got to France the first time, I had to play on Sundays and Sundays. My dad was angry because you don’t play on a Sunday.
“Now we freaking play over Christmas and all of that.”
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/frans-steyn-slams-rugby-calendar-as-a-stupid-thing-and-explains-why-he-prefers-super-rugby-to-the-united-rugby-championship
