Toby Booth and Marco Bortolami believe Vodacom URC and EPCR clubs from Europe are even more confident about beating South African teams in the Republic, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.
The Ospreys and Benetton achieved big wins in South Africa last season, and Booth and Bortolami were asked during a URC coaches and media round table alongside Vodacom Bulls rival Jake White this week if it’s getting easier for the northern hemisphere sides to tour the country, and what they have learnt for 2024-25.
Bortolami’s Benetton had an impressive 2023-24 URC campaign, finishing seventh after the regular season. The Italian outfit’s success included a win over the Sharks in Durban and a first-ever playoff appearance. Although they were narrowly beaten in the quarter-finals by the Bulls in Pretoria, Benetton showed they can compete at the highest level.
“It’s difficult to say if it gets any easier, definitely not… but you start to understand what the challenges are,” Bortolami said. “Players start to understand what the challenges look like, and you hopefully become better and better. South African teams are improving just as quickly and aren’t waiting for other teams to catch up.”
Travel and altitude remain the biggest challenges for teams heading to South Africa, according to Bortolami, but adds, “We did pretty well towards the end of last season.
“If you play at the right time of the year in SA, when it’s not too hot, it’s better than playing in our winter, which is their summer. Timing and when you travel can also have an impact.”
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The Ospreys, under the stewardship of Booth, finished eighth in the URC and went unbeaten against all South African opposition, including a historic bonus-point victory over the DHL Stormers in Cape Town and a win over the Lions in Johannesburg in the Challenge Cup.
Booth spoke about the importance of those wins for building belief in his squad. “Every day’s a learning day, so getting a couple of wins there in the Challenge Cup and against the DHL Stormers was great, if nothing else to dispel the myth that it can be done.
“The big thing about winning over there, and we’ve won a couple of times now, is it just fosters the belief in your group that it can be done.”
Benetton’s rise in recent years has caught the attention of their opponents, yet Bortolami acknowledges the need to build on that progress. “We’re very pleased with the progression of the team over the last three years, but the challenge is to maintain that ambition to try and beat the biggest teams on the biggest stage.
“Obviously the underdog tag we had in previous years is going to be smaller and smaller every season… but like Jake’s said, you learn how to be successful at the playoff stages the more you’re there, and it’s not an overnight process.”
Booth, though, couldn’t resist a light-hearted comment at White’s expense. When quizzed about the Bulls’ star-studded squad being described by their director of rugby as “young and inexperienced”, the Englishman quipped: “Well, if Jake’s young squad is full of Springboks that’s a tough place to start from, right?
“I’ve known Jake a long time and he won’t mind me saying that he’s the king of underplaying a lot of things, and I mean that as the greatest compliment to my friend.”
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
