Former Springboks prop Robbi Kempson says South African teams must embrace playing in the Champions Cup, Europe's premium continental club competition.  

The Champions Cup is to rugby what the Uefa Champions League is to football. It is a competition that is extremely tough and all the best players in the world want to play in it. 

The Stormers, Bulls and Sharks will battle teams from the French Top 14, English Premiership and the United Rugby Championship (URC). The competition features 24 teams, drawn into two Pools, A and B. 

There will be four games in the group stages. The Bulls will play Lyon and Exeter on a home and away basis. The Sharks will do the same against Harlequins and Bordeaux-Bègles, while the URC champions, the Stormers, take on Clermont and London Irish.

Over the years, South African players have lit up the Champions Cup, playing a key role in it establishing itself as a major competition in the professional rugby sphere. Kempson, who joined the Irish province Ulster in the 2000s to play in the Champions Cup, shared what  it is that makes the Champions Cup special. 

“The Heineken Cup is an incredible competition. I gave up Super Rugby to go and play it. I wanted to be in the European Cup. It’s another step up from the URC. it’s a tremendous competition. All of a sudden you’re playing a French club, an English club or an Irish club,” Kempson told Sowetan.

“The players and coaches of the  South African teams should be thankful that they will manage to play in that type of competition. You can’t play it anywhere else in the world. The South African franchises should be looking forward to it. We might struggle at the start a bit but as time goes on, we will be competitive,” he said. 

Kempson believes that South African  teams will find difficulty in the balancing act of playing their Springboks in the Champions Cup as well as the URC. 

“How they manage the Springboks, that will be the most difficult part of the equation,” he said. 

“They are coming off a four-match overseas tour and straight to the Heineken Cup. For the overseas sides, they are used to this scenario. They are used to their internationals going straight to the Champions Cup. That’s something we still need to get used to with our players,” said Kempson.