It is about 5,500 miles from London to Pretoria, which makes it 11 hours and a world away for Saracens, who travelled there this week for their opening fixture of the Champions Cup. It was 5C when the squad boarded the plane and 35C when they got off it. All of which topsy-turviness sums up the twist club rugby has got itself in.
At a time when everyone is worried about the players’ workloads and mental welfare, club rugby has somehow ended up in a position where teams are going back and forth around the globe from one week to the next.
