Here’s a quiz question as an eventful domestic rugby season enters its closing days: which of the two leagues staging grand finals in Twickenham and Cape Town respectively this weekend has had the better campaign? As the Premiership braces itself for the financial demise of a third club inside nine months, a clear winner is increasingly emerging.
No one would describe the United Rugby Championship as a perfect competition from a logistical perspective, other than for long-haul travel experts specialising in flights to and from southern Africa. But credit where it is due. While tickets for Saturday’s final between Munster and Stormers in Cape Town were relatively inexpensive, all 55,000 available seats were sold within three hours. Given the short notice involved, it has further bolstered the case for South African involvement. The URC took a punt and, for the moment, it is paying off in terms of extra interest and enhanced playing standards.
