Great facing SA teams, says Farrell

WITH the United Rugby Championship (URC) reaching its conclusion in the coming weeks, now is arguably as good a time as ever to reflect on the regular season that was completed last weekend.

The quarter-finals are set in stone for next weekend – Ulster take on Munster in a huge Irish derby; the Bulls host the Sharks in a power encounter; the irrepressible Leinster face under-dogs Glasgow; and the Scottish Shield Winners Edinburgh visit Cape Town to battle the SA Shield winners, the Stormers.

In all, three SA sides have qualified for the play-offs and at least one will progress to the semi-finals of the tournament. It was with this in mind that Ireland international and Munster centre Chris Farrell revealed on Tuesday night, in a roundtable discussion, what the four SA franchises have brought to the URC this season.

Said Farrell thoughtfully: “It has been great.

“I’m sure it makes for exciting viewing when there is so much movement on the table … The

South African teams have really transformed the second half of the season. Going down there, as difficult as it is to travel, is also a nice change and it is a challenge that we are enjoying, despite not having huge success down there.

“They (the SA teams) just have a different dynamic; in terms of the way they play. Playing down there

(in SA) is so, so tough and I probably underestimated how tough it was going to be there and playing against quality teams.

“The conditions were really, really difficult but it is a real positive for us as rugby players, to play in different cultures, to get the chance to play in quality stadiums with teams that have really huge fan bases.

“It adds something to this competition ...

“In terms of negatives, it is going to be tough for anyone going over there in the knockout stages just because of the conditions, the travel, but that is something that we can control and something that we have to try and get better at.”

Much has been made in SA by the think-tanks of the SA franchises – the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers – about the tactical adjustment that has had to be made to playing style and gameplan to find equal footing in the European tournament.

Although there has been a shift in this regard, Farrell – who has 15 Test caps to his name – believes that it will not fundamentally change the manner in which the various nations approach the game. He also gave a smidgen of insight into the current state of Irish rugby.

“I don’t think anyone will have to change,” he said.

“I think Irish rugby is in a very positive space. The provinces are as competitive as they have ever been. The international team is really, really competitive and everyone is striving to put their hand up to be in the international set-up.

“We have a core of youngsters coming through all over the place, so I wouldn’t say the culture will have to change to compete with South African teams. In the same way, I don’t think South African rugby culture needs change to compete against us … I think they are already competing.

“I suspect that next season it will be even more competitive between the South African teams and the

Irish teams, the Welsh, Scottish and Italian teams,” he concluded.