Currie Cup Captain Announcement:
The Cell C Sharks head coach Sean Everitt has named his captain for the upcoming Carling Currie Cup campaign that kicks off this Saturdaywith an away clash against Griquas in Kimberley.
Exciting eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi will lead the Cell C Sharks in the domestic competition and despite his relative youth – he only turned 22 at the end of May – he is no stranger to a leadership role and captaincy has come at every phase of his sparkling career.
A proud son of KZN, he was born in northern KZN and schooled at DHS where he captained the 1st XV before joining the Cell C Sharks at under 19 level where he truly excelled.
Interestingly enough, his coach at Under 19 level was Sean Everitt, who now coaches the senior side and has entrusted the captaincy to Buthelezi who has grown as a player and leader since coming to The Sharks in 2014.
The duo proved to be an inspired partnership when the Cell C Sharks Under 19s won the SA Rugby Under 19 Championship in 2018, having gone the entire season unbeaten and defeating the Blue Bulls 40-27 in the final; this bodes well for the immediate future of the senior side.
Given the loss of a large group of senior players to the Springbok cause, the Cell C Sharks squad that will be campaigning in the Currie Cup will provide the perfect opportunity to grow and develop not only the playing contingent, but the senior leadership as well.
As a proven and born leader, Buthelezi has also captained the KZN Craven Week side, SA Schools and SA Under 20 and now adds senior provincial leadership duties to his growing – and glowing – CV.
He is a respected leader amongst his team-mates and a player who never gives less than his all. His effort and performance against the Vodacom Bulls last Saturday at Jonsson Kings Park was the stuff of Man of the Match proportions and his lead-by-example style is reminiscent of fellow Sharks eighthman and former captain Gary Teichmann.
Despite his relative youth, while commanding respect from the youngsters in the team, many of who he has played with at junior level, his senior team-mates hold him in high regard too.
Those senior players, experienced campaigners like Jeremy Ward and Henco Venter who have also captained the Cell Sharks, will provide experience and calm heads and offer their support and guidance in his captaincy duties.
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United Rugby Championship Heralds a New Era for Club Rugby:
The ‘United Rugby Championship will kick off in September 2021 as the top clubs from South Africa (Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls) combine with the Guinness PRO14 to create a world-class 16-team league.
The United Rugby Championship will be bigger, bolder and stronger than its predecessors. Teams from five of rugby’s elite nations – Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales and South Africa will transform the competition into a league of super clubs, which will embrace difference and champion its athletes on their journey with the URC proudly representing all of those involved with the game.
Off the field the United Rugby Championship will strive to provide a platform for our players to tell their stories so that their achievements in sport and society can inspire the next-generation of rugby talent and the sport’s supporters to prove that rugby is a game for all.
This game-changing agreement between SA Rugby and PRO14 Rugby will strengthen their existing partnership and will drive greater growth of the game for the benefit of all 16 teams in the league.
Martin Anayi, CEO of United Rugby Championship, said: “Fans have always asked more of our league and now we are taking it to new heights. The United Rugby Championship will see World Cup winners, icons of the Guinness Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and stars of the British & Irish Lions tour turning up the intensity in an exciting new league format. Since the origins of the Celtic League in 2001, the vision has been to innovate and evolve in order to create a compelling competition which would challenge our players and teams to be at their very best every single week. Their potential has never been in doubt and now we can provide them with the arena to be the very best.
“Forming the United Rugby Championship will begin to reshape the world of club rugby. We are creating a league that embraces and celebrates difference and where the only way to succeed will be to match the skill and intensity of the international game.
“The arrival of South Africa’s elite teams and the removal of fixtures from international match weekends will make our league stronger across the board. We will see heroes taking on heroes every week in iconic locations to create an appeal that will be unmatched in in the world of club rugby.
“We now have a clear purpose and identity that everyone associated with our league can stand behind. We have listened and we have answered the challenge set by our clubs to take this competition to the next level both on and off the field. North and south will now collide on a regular basis and we cannot wait to see who will rise up as the first champions of the United Rugby Championship.”
Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby, said: “South African rugby has for many years imagined a future aligned with northern-hemisphere rugby and this announcement marks the arrival of that vision.
“Our teams will be pitting themselves against the leading clubs from four nations, steeped in rugby tradition and folklore. They’ll do it without having to cross time zones or acclimatise while 100 per cent of matches will kick off in South African prime time.
“This is a watershed moment in South African rugby history, opening new doors and heralding a new and exciting era for our sport.”
Crossing New Horizons in Rugby
This agreement will create a pathway for SA Rugby to become a full shareholder in Pro Rugby Championship (PRC DAC) alongside the Celtic and Italian unions. In a sporting landscape looking towards the post-pandemic future this unification of north and south provides everyone involved in the United Rugby Championship with optimism for prosperous days ahead.
Subject to contract, all teams in the United Rugby Championship will be eligible to qualify for EPCR competitions in time for the 2022/23 season.
In comparison to the Guinness PRO14 structure, the 18-round regular season in the United Rugby Championship will see the return of a single-standing table that will prevent clashes with international weekends and leave little margin for error for those chasing the title. Every game will count in the league which will be further strengthened by an expanded knock-out series that aims to deliver more jeopardy with a full schedule of quarter-finals and semi-finals capped off by a Grand Final played in a destination venue.
The United Rugby Championship will set the stage where the diversity of playing styles, languages and fan cultures will clash across iconic locations in rugby heartlands week after week. The new league will also allow South Africa’s former Super Rugby sides to operate in a common time zone which will help open up greater audiences across the league and increase commercial appeal.
United Rugby Championship League Format
The URC will use one league table to rank the teams who will reach the knock-out stages and compete to reach the title and become the champions.
Fixtures: The regular season of the United Rugby Championship will take place across 18 rounds with each team’s fixtures comprising of six (6) Home AND away fixtures against their regional pool opponents and12 Home OR away fixtures against the remaining teams in the league
Regional pools
Irish Pool: Connacht, Leinster, Munster, Ulster
Welsh Pool: Dragons, Cardiff Rugby, Ospreys, Scarlets
South African Pool: Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls
Italian & Scottish Pool: Benetton Rugby, Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors, Zebre Rugby Club
Final Series/Play-Offs: Oneleague table will be used to rank teams and after 18 rounds the top eight sides will qualify for the Play-Offs. Teams will be seeded from 1 to 8 and will receive home advantage according to their seeding.
A full round of Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals will take place to produce two teams who will qualify for the Grand Final.
United Rugby Championship – Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Participation
A total of eight teams from the United Rugby Championship will qualify each season for the following season’s Heineken Champions Cup. The balance of teams will participate in the Challenge Cup.
Subject to the finalisation of contract terms with EPCR, South African teams will be eligible to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup from the 2022/23 season if they have finished in the United Rugby Championship qualification places from the prior season.
All points won during the URC season will contribute to rankings in the regional pools and the highest-ranking team in each of the four pools will earn a place in the Champions Cup for the following season. This addition to the format is expected to add even greater intensity to these age-old local rivalries.
The remaining four places in the Champions Cup will be awarded to the four highest-ranked teams from the single-standing league table who have not already qualified through the four regional pools.
ENDS
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