The challenge from the northern reaches

This weekend South African rugby steps into a brave new world as they move north to face the best of Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the United Rugby Championship. Here, Independent Media looks at the franchises that make up the Scottish/Italian Shield Pool and the Welsh Shield Pool BENETTON TREVISO

Founded: 1932

Ground: Stadio Comunate di Monigo, Treviso (Capacity: 6 700) Coach: Marco Bortolami (Ita)

Captains: Dewaldt Duvenage (SA) and Michele Lamaro (Ita)

Team Talk: Earlier this year Benetton humbled the Bulls in the Rainbow Cup final to set down an early indication that acclimatising to the new tournament will be a tough endeavour for the SA teams. Before that, the Italian team’s best efforts in the PRO14 was a quarter-final finish in 2019, and generally they are considered one of the “weaker” teams. But their win over the Bulls proved that they won’t be pushovers in this competition.

SA Connection: Current – Corniel Els, Irne Herbst, Carl Wegner, Dewaldt Duvenage, Andries Coetzee, Rhyno Smith, Braam Steyn and Sebastian Negri

Player to watch: Monty Ioane

EDINBURGH

Founded: 1872

Stadium: Edinburgh Rugby Stadium aka Murrayfield (Capacity: 67 144)

Coach: Mike Blair (Sco)

Captains: Grant Gilchrist (Sco) and Stuart McInally (Sco)

Team Talk: The closest Edinburgh have ever come to winning the PRO Rugby title was in 2009, when they finished second behind Munster. In 2020 they reached the semi-finals of the PRO14, losing narrowly to Ulster. The Rainbow Cup a year later was a bit of a disaster, as the Scottish franchise finish ninth in that tournament. It will be former Scottish international Blair’s first posting as coach after the departure of Richard Cockerill.

SA Connection: Current – WP Nel, Jaco van der Walt, Luan de Bruin, Pierre Schoeman, Boan Venter, Henry Immelman and Jordan Venter; Former – Duhan van der Merwe.

Player to watch: Hamish Watson

GLASGOW WARRIORS

Founded: 1872

Stadium: Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow (Capacity: 7 351) Coach: Danny Wilson (Sco) Captains: Fraser Brown (Sco) and Ryan Wilson (Sco)

Team Talk: Warriors have played in three PRO Rugby finals, the most recent in 2019, and have managed to claim the title once, in 2015. In the recently concluded Rainbow Cup, they came desperately close to topping the standings in the northern conference, ultimately finishing third. Most famously, the “Beard who has no Fear” Josh Strauss, a former Currie Cup-winning captain of the Lions, earned his international stripes for Scotland while playing for the franchise.

SA Connection: Current – Oli Kebble and Kyle Steyn; Former – Josh Strauss and Huw Jones.

Player to watch: Ali Price

ZEBRE

Founded: 2012

Stadium: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma (Capacity: 5 000) Coach: Michael Bradley (Ire)

Captains: Giulio Bisegni (Ita)

Team Talk: The XV of the North-West, Zebre are an amalgamation of several clubs, something akin to Super Rugby’s Cats of yesteryear. For 24 years between 1973 and 1997, the team were strictly an invitational XV, but with Italy’s entry into PRO Rugby, the team collated into a professional outfit in 2012 to become the youngest side in the tournament.

SA Connection: Current – Johan Meyer and Erich Cronje; Former – Quintin Geldenhuys and Dries van Schalkwyk.

Player to watch: Carlo Canna