Toulouse coach Ugo Mola says that SA sides “have turned things upside down” in Europe this season after five teams from the Republic progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions and Challenge cups.
The Sharks, DHL Stormers and Vodacom Bulls have reached the playoffs in their first participation in the Champions Cup previously contested only by European teams.
A win for the Stormers on Saturday saw the inaugural Vodacom United Rugby Championship winners secure a home playoff, while despite losing to Harlequins away, the Sharks did enough to get a home match in the round of 16. The Bulls, beaten at Lyon last time out, will again play away from the comfort of the Highveld in the knockouts.
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In the second-tier Challenge Cup, the Cheetahs have to travel to face French giants Toulon. The Lions, meanwhile, will also take on a French side when they host Racing 92, who dropped down from the Champions Cup, in Johannesburg.
Record five-time Champions Cup winners Toulouse needed just a bonus point from a 20-16 win over Munster on Sunday, in the re-run of the 2008 final, to make sure of homeground advantage with the next round being played at the start of April, when The Red and Blacks will play the Bulls.
“South Africans teams have turned things upside down,” Mola told reporters on Sunday.
“You may as well play them as they’re here. I can’t wait,” he added.