WELCOME to the rest of the world, Super Kings and Cheetahs, and may the very best of luck go to you and your fans as you start life in the world’s first bi-hemispheral club rugby tournament.
Given that nobody actually bothered consulting the fans and players of the existing Pro-12 teams, we must wait to see what their reaction will be to the arrival of the two South African franchises into what we must now learn to call the Guinness Pro-14.
For instance, did anyone seriously consider what the teams from the northern hemisphere will have to do weather-wise? Did it not occur to anybody that the Glasgow Warriors, for example, will have to play a home game at Scotstoun, probably in the cold and rain late next month and then head off to play the Cheetahs in South Africa a week later where the temperatures will be in the 80s (in old money) upwards?
And yes, that ‘climate change’ cuts both ways, because the Super Kings and Cheetahs will be coming from baking heat and firm pitches to dreich downpours and quagmires.
That’s because our winter is their summer, and vice versa, and it could see players and fans having to cope with massive differences of temperature – not to mention humidity and ground conditions – inside a few days.
Nor do you have to be an economic genius to observe that the likelihood of fans of Glasgow and Edinburgh jumping aboard a jumbo jet to South Africa is at best unlikely and probably impossible – it’s OK to sneak off work early for a match at Myreside on a Friday evening, but try telling the boss you need a week to watch the boys in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth.
There will be the odd well-heeled followers who will do so, but I reckon that aircraft heading south of the equator will not be overflowing with scarves displaying loyalty to the Warriors or Edinburgh Rugby. The Super Kings and the Cheetahs are here however, so we have to get on with it and the Rucker simply hopes that the two Scottish teams do their level best to finish as high up the new league as possible.
The draw has been quite kind to Glasgow and Edinburgh, though the latter will be without their Scotland players when they go to South Africa.
So what are the prospects for the new arrivals? Not brilliant, it has to be said.
The Cheetahs’ best-ever finish in a Super Rugby season was four years ago when they finished sixth, but last season they only managed to win four of their 14 games in total and finished a miserable 13th of the 18 teams which sealed the fate of the franchise.
The Super Kings were even worse overall. They were relegated from Super Rugby after their first season following and miss the 2014 and 2015 seasons before returning in 2016. They did outperform the Cheetahs last season, finishing 11th overall and winning six of their 15 matches.
That’s probably not good enough form to make Munster worry, but no one at the Warriors or Edinburgh should be in any way complacent – South African players don’t do lying down.
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