Two years that the South African franchises play the Champions Cup, and two years that we make the same observations.

With the elimination of the Pretoria Bulls against Northampton in the quarter-finals (59-22), and the controversy that followed (the EPCR opened an investigation into the rotation of the Bulls’ squad who left their internationals at rest), the South Africans will be absent from the last four of the Champions Cup again this season.

Only the Durban Sharks will play the semi-final in the Challenge Cup. A meagre consolation.

But let’s not make a mistake about the target. It is not the EPCR, the organising organisation of the Champions Cup that is responsible for this slump, but the United Rugby Championship.

The EPCR only sportingly admits the South African teams that have earned their respective qualifications on the ground in the URC. It is therefore against the URC that we must attack.

And this for the following different reasons, valid in the league as well as in the Champions Cup.

Ecological aberration

At a time when sobriety is required of different populations on sphere-effect gas emissions, letting teams cross the African continent several times a year for rugby matches is a task.

The carbon footprint of the URC and the Champions Cup are disastrous. And this is a task to promote rugby to a wide audience, sensitive to the ecological issues of the time.

Fanted Competition

While the level of the URC has clearly allowed the Celtic teams to progress, with more emphasis on physical engagement, the matches remain distorted.

It is in no interest for you to move to South Africa if you want to go far in the competition.

Sometimes up to 28 hours of aircraft to digest, a change of continent and season, result in fatigue.

La Rochelle can testify to this, after his long trip to Cape Town against the Stormers, then to Dublin to face Leinster in the quarter-finals.

The double European champion ran out of energy during the game. Not only at the end, but throughout. A lack that prevented them from taking the tide.

The quarter-finals of Aviva Stadium could have been much more interesting and contested. And we will never know what a fair meeting would have given.

This observation is also valid for South African teams. The Bulls suffered from the long journey against Northampton this Saturday night.