The European Champions Cup will return for the first time of 2025 this weekend.
While the competition's third round will see all of Europe's finest facing off, it is also likely to again give air to the debate around the seemingly diminishing attractiveness of the competition and the South African club's place in it.
Heading into the last round of fixtures, concern about the lack of competition in the tournament's new format was already rife, with many of the game's most prolific commentators as well as supporters airing their grievances about the dropping levels of quality in the tournament.
Those existing concerns were only compounded by the decision of several clubs travelling to and from South Africa to hold their best players in reserve - a decision that not only detracted from what should have been marquee games but also had commentators imploring the EPCR to find a solution, with some names such as Stephen Jones calling for the South African clubs to be removed from the competition.
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Eben Etzebeth launches ardent defence of Champions Cup
Despite some claiming that the competition has lost its prestige with the new format and introduction of South African teams, back-to-back World Cup winner Eben Etzebeth has launched an ardent defence of the Champions Cup.
Etzebeth was speaking on the Times' The Ruck podcast, the South African claimed that while South African players and fans don't yet realise it, the competition remains 'the biggest club competition in the world'.
We as players, especially the guys who’ve played up in Europe, understand how big this competition is. It’s massive for us, I do believe players that haven’t been abroad and who’ve always plied their trade in South Africa don’t understand the meaning and the value of this competition yet.
No disrespect, but I also think the South African fans don’t realise the magnitude of this competition yet either.
It is, for me, by far the biggest club competition in the world. I’m sure over the years the South African fans will start to realise how big it is and how big it is to win this competition. If you win it, you get a star on your jersey. I mean, that is quite massive.
Etzebeth also revealed that he understands why players might be frustrated with the competition, but said he remains unphased by it, encouraging people to adapt to the new idea.
I can even go as far as saying I understand why players in Europe might get annoyed because obviously South Africa is not part of Europe and we obviously now give those teams a few extra hours of travel. But, for me, the game goes on. People need to adapt to new things and new ideas and new competitions.
So, if they complain, it doesn’t bother me. I do understand why they complain. But for us as South Africans, it’s nice to be a part of it, and it will be great if a South African team can win it in the near future
Having won the second-tier Challenge Cup last season with Durban outfit the Sharks, Etzebeth is well aware of both what it means and what it takes to succeed in Europe.
That said, the lock and his supporters will once again have just an eight-day turnaround between this Saturday's clash with Toulouse in Durban and the following Sunday's game against Bordeaux in France.
Having been held in reserve for last month's trip to Leicester, it will certainly be interesting to see whether the Sharks once again opt against sending a full-strength team to France, with a win over Toulouse likely to be sufficient in getting them to the last sixteen.
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