South Africa’s national rugby governing body is set to launch a wide-ranging review of its national teams’ competitive calendar, a process that could reshape both domestic and international rugby schedules across the continent and Europe. The South African Rugby Union (Saru) confirmed it will hold a formal strategic planning session before the end of July to evaluate current scheduling arrangements. While officials note that it is too early to confirm any concrete changes, one of the most significant outcomes under discussion is the potential withdrawal of South Africa’s top professional club sides from the European Rugby Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup.
Under the current structure, elite South African rugby players face a grueling 12-month competitive season. Since 2020, the country’s four top professional clubs — the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions — have competed in the United Rugby Championship (URC), a cross-continental league that runs from September through June each year. After wrapping up their URC commitments, elite players who represent the South African national side, the Springboks, enter the annual Rugby Championship — the southern hemisphere’s flagship international tournament held in July and August — leaving little to no time for rest and recovery. Only a small number of Springboks, who play their club rugby in Japan, avoid this packed annual schedule.
Saru made clear in an official statement that the review was launched to address growing calls for a balanced calendar that protects both player welfare and competitive team performance. “The views of all internal stakeholders will be canvassed and workshopped on the domestic and international playing calendar for South African players,” the statement added.
South African rugby’s shift into Northern Hemisphere-focused club competition is a relatively recent change. For more than two decades after the founding of Super Rugby in 1996, South African sides competed exclusively in the southern hemisphere-based domestic competition. But Saru officials long pushed for a move to European competitions, citing more aligned time zones that reduce cross-continental travel burdens, and the shift to the URC was completed in 2020. Two years later, South African teams gained entry to the Champions and Challenge Cups, European club rugby’s top two competitions.
The integration of South African sides into the URC has been widely viewed as a success for both the league and the South African franchises. The Stormers won the URC title in their first full season in the league in 2022, while the Bulls have reached three of the last four tournament finals. All four South African sides are now permanent shareholders in the URC, with league chief executive Martin Anayi confirming in 2025 that the addition of South African teams has been overwhelmingly positive for the competition.
However, South African participation in the Champions Cup has been far more problematic, both on and off the pitch. While the Sharks claimed the Challenge Cup title in 2024, no South African side has advanced past the quarter-final stage of the top-tier Champions Cup. Constant logistical and travel challenges between South Africa and Europe have also created persistent disruptions for both South African teams and their European opponents.
The Saru review comes at a time of widespread uncertainty across European club rugby, with multiple major competitions set for potential restructuring. European rugby bosses are already weighing a major overhaul of the Champions Cup, with one leading proposal cutting the tournament field to around 16 teams and holding the entire competition in a single block at the end of the regular season. The long-term structure of the URC is also unresolved, as the Welsh Rugby Union plans to reduce its number of professional franchises from four to three, a shift that will alter the league’s makeup.
Currently, South Africa’s EPCR shareholder agreement is locked in through 2030, though Saru notes that changes would be possible if all relevant stakeholders reach a consensus. “Should consensus be reached on a potential revision of the calendar, any contractual or constitutional requirements to affect such a revision will be observed,” the Saru statement said.
If South African sides do withdraw from European club competitions, one widely discussed alternative is expanding and strengthening the country’s historic domestic competition, the Currie Cup, which was first launched in 1891 and remains a beloved part of South African rugby’s sporting identity.