Last weekend I spent 32 hours on flights with my teammates from Toulon just to get to South Africa for our first Champions Cup match of the season.
It was a wild journey to Port Elizabeth and although we won our match with the Stormers, I think it is important that I speak personally about the experience because for me it raises some important points about how the premier competition of Europe is led.
Last weekend with Toulon we traveled there on Monday for a match on Saturday. It went like this (deep breath): bus from Toulon to Marseille, flight from Marseille to Frankfurt, flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg, flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth. Cheeky. And on Sunday we had to do the same in reverse order.
We arrived at 5pm on Tuesday, but the players were so exhausted that we only had one real training session before the match. When we woke up on Wednesday morning, no one was ready to train properly. Everyone hated it.
We weren’t helped by the fact that we started our mammoth journey the weekend before Monday, playing Perpignan in the Top 14 on Saturday evening at 9pm.
Our bus back boarded at 6:30 on Sunday morning.
Dan Biggar says European rugby needs to make significant changes to solve the South African problem
The impact of traveling long distances for competitions is a real problem, according to Biggar
A few hours later I was up with the kids, but Sunday was pretty much a write-off before we met at noon on Monday to travel. The French league didn’t help us with that!
It is essential to recognize the impact on the players. The reality is that it is incredibly difficult for top athletes to travel from Europe to South Africa for a one-off competition.
The same of course applies to the likes of the Sharks or Bulls when they come to Britain, with the former traveling to Welford Road to face Leicester on Saturday.
When the South African teams entered the Champions Cup for the 2022-2023 season, having joined the United Rugby Championship in 2021, it immediately became clear that the impact of traveling long distances for matches was going to be an issue . That is still the case.
I completely understand why everyone wants a piece of South African rugby. They are the double world champions. They have so many world-class players and they bring in significant television revenue from the Northern Hemisphere leagues. I also think they have made a huge contribution to the URC – the competition which also features Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Italian teams.
However, there is an important difference between the way the URC and the Champions Cup work.
When European teams go to South Africa for URC matches, and vice versa, they often go for two weeks or more and play at least two matches. That is manageable.
The best thing about traveling for two days for one match is not.
Biggar (L) in action in the Champions Cup match with DHL Stormers in Gqeberha, South Africa
I am not anti-South Africa at all. It’s one of my favorite places to tour and the memory of captaining Wales to a Test victory on Springbok soil will stay with me forever. But there are practical concerns about playing there in European competition.
On the way to South Africa we came across Exeter Chiefs who were also making a similar journey. Their boys joked with us that they were actually playing the South African and French national teams in back-to-back weeks, with the Sharks and Toulouse being their first two games!
Even though we got the result in South Africa, I don’t think we were in a good condition as a team to play at our best. That’s important because the Champions Cup should be the highest level of European club rugby.
We have already seen teams deploy weakened teams due to the impact of travel. Last season the Bulls left their first-choice starters at home for a quarter-final against Northampton. That should have been a marquee event and instead it was one-sided. That’s not what the Champions Cup should be about. But teams playing second-string will continue to happen unless something changes.
So, what to do? If the South African teams remain in the Champions Cup, I would restructure the tournament so that teams travel there for two weeks, like in the URC.
I am aware that some fans may think that as players we should stop whining and just get on with it. And when we did charity work with local children in Port Elizabeth last week to support Siya Kolisi’s foundation, it certainly put a lot of things into perspective.
However, we want the Champions Cup to be the best it can be and at the moment teams are not getting the chance to play at their peak.
I’ve flown a lot in my time. But on the way back from South Africa we had a seriously frightening experience when we were caught in a storm. There was lightning around us and heavy turbulence.
Biggar believes teams aren’t getting the chance to play at their peak right now
Pierre Mignoni, our coach at Toulon, absolutely hates flying at the best of times. Wherever we play matches in France, he always goes by road. He went crazy on the return flight, clutching the seat rail in panic and telling the club doctor he would be fired unless he gave him a sleeping pill!
Regardless, it gave us a good laugh and brightened up the gigantic journey.
Most of the guys took a sleeping pill to try to get ready for the flights. And when we landed in Port Elizabeth, Kyle Sinckler – the king of recovery – was immediately arranging saunas and other things to help us acclimatise.
Kyle’s phone bill next month will be huge! He also bought the beers when we went out after the game at a place called Pool City.
The boys bought grand rounds. Kyle bought 150 beers in one go! The only saving grace for him was that they only cost £1 each…
Our next game is at home against Glasgow on Sunday, which is a relief. The coaches told us we can’t come until Thursday because they want to give us time to recover from the trip. And honestly: that is desperately needed.
Speaking to some of the Stormers players after our game with them, it appears they will be resting their best players for their trip to London to play Harlequins this weekend.
That’s a shame, but also nothing new. And that’s why I think something needs to change.