Former Springbok wing Stefan Terblanche has praised the SA teams for staying competitive in European cup competition despite their travel and weather challenges.
The DHL Stormers, Sharks and Lions will be at home, while the Vodacom Bulls and Cheetahs will take to the road when Africa’s full contingent compete in the respective Champions and Challenge cup playoffs in April.
In the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, the Sharks’ win in Edinburgh on Saturday saw them move into eighth place on the log, while the Stormers are still second, and the Bulls in fourth spot.
Terblanche, who played 37 Tests for the Boks between 1998 and 2003, believes the SA teams’ success in both competitions in the face of logistical and environmental obstacles is testament to South Africans’ fighting spirit.
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“In general, South African teams like to be the underdog. Very few South African teams like to go into games with everything going their way and being complete favourites to win. They certainly like a challenge,” he told SuperSport.
“South African teams are used to having significant challenges when it comes to logistics and travelling, and I think they’ve all handled it really well so far. I’m delighted for all three teams.
“The weather change is a massive difference, and our players are also still getting used to playing on synthetic pitches up north. It’s huge and another whole new experience they need to prepare themselves for. But we always knew this was going to be the case.
“A few of our results up north could be better, but all of our teams are still playing some decent rugby up there. And for three out of three SA teams to go through to the last 16 of the Champions Cup is a pretty decent result.”
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On the Bulls’ clash against French giants Toulouse in their round of 16 clash on 2 April, Terblanche added: “That’s a heavyweight team for the Vodacom Bulls to face. They are the most successful team in this competition and it will be very hard for the Bulls to go there and win that game.
“The conditions up north at the end of March will definitely still play a role. I think that’s one thing South African supporters need to understand, that these northern hemisphere teams are incredible competitors, especially at home.
“They are well coached and have a great supporter base in Europe. Every match against them is hard work.”
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