The URC sometimes gets a lot of flak from old-school rugby watchers who reckon it doesn’t match up to Super Rugby.

I do get it, of course. Who doesn’t miss the old days of waking up at 7 am to watch your South African team play the Hurricanes, hoping for a win? Travelling to New Zealand was always a tough ask. We’d hope for a victory, but usually settle for a bonus-point loss. Then there was travelling to Australia, with the later kick-offs. This meant you could meet up with the crew at the Dros, drink a few beers, and prepare for the later South African games at 3 pm or 5 pm. Saturdays had motivation. Rugby the whole donnerse day!

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Against the Australian teams, we had a lot more hope! And, of course, how can we forget the amazing Australian commentators? We’d spend half the weekend acting out their accents and repeating their beautiful sayings.

“Garage pass!”

“He has been bamboozled!”

Super Rugby was a vibe, and the derbies were brutal. It was an amazing product. For me, nothing beats Super 12, although Super 14 was still pretty special.

But then the product got lost. Let’s be honest.

Around 2017, it started dying a slow death. Like pouring salt on a snail, weird log tables, questionable teams entering the picture, and, well, I hate to say it, just too much rugby.

Yet what really started killing the product for me, and for many South Africans, was losing our Springboks and future Springboks to overseas clubs. We simply couldn’t compete financially, especially the French and Japanese clubs.

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Our teams were still talented and always up for the fight, but they were starting to miss their main attractions. Every season, your home team would lose four to six well-known players.

Even die-hard supporters were sometimes asking, “Who the hell is that?” Your average fan had no idea who was playing or what was going on. And with that, we started losing bums on seats and eyes on the telly.

How do you convince your “normal” mate to go and watch the Stormers vs Bulls when Eben, Siya, Pieter-Steph, Kolbe, Pollard and Jesse Kriel have all left the team?

It’s a harder sell than those Dros beers.

I mean, who remembers that special Lions side, suddenly missing Faf, Franco Mostert, Kwagga and Malcolm Marx?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the youngsters were kak. They were just unknowns. It’s like starting a new series. You need time to get to know the characters before you become invested.

For a while, South African rugby was in the Wild Fokken West. Too much confusing rugby, a revolving door of new actors, and derbies that were starting to feel pretty flat.

Then this thing called COVID happened.

You might remember the masks and security guards spraying the kak out of those little spray bottles into your hands and eyes.

And with COVID, New Zealand basically told us to voetsek from Super Rugby, so we had to make another plan.

As we all know, we eventually joined the URC.

Europe was up in arms, especially the Welsh, but in true South African fashion, we didn’t really care. We invited ourselves anyway!

It took a while for us to get into it, and getting into the Champions Cup might take a few more seasons for some South African fans who still don’t understand the two tournaments. But most South Africans have started catching on.

The Stormers won the inaugural tournament, while the Bulls have had a few cracks at the final.

And yes, listen, I admit it. Back in the Super Rugby days, I’d happily watch the Blues take on the Crusaders, or the Waratahs play those in-form 2011 Reds.

It’s a bit harder to convince me to watch Scarlets versus Dragons. Or even Ulster versus Glasgow. My interest in those teams just isn’t there yet.

But now you’re probably asking, “Westley, what is your blerrie point?”

Hold up, Oom Danie. Here it is.

Say what you want about the URC, but the derbies are suddenly fokken back!

Sharks versus Bulls? Yes, please!

Bulls versus Stormers? You had me at hello!

But why? Why is it suddenly happening now?

Because our players are coming back home, baby! We’re seeing Boks versus Boks. We’re seeing the best players going head-to-head in the same positions. And we’re not just bringing back established Springboks; we’re keeping some incredible young talent at home, too.

Cameron Hanekom, Sacha, Siyaya, Morne van den Berg and Damian Willemse.

A few years ago, some of these oaks might have been off overseas like a pigeon in a cat farm!

The URC gives our franchises a lekker financial platform, while our players have a genuine opportunity to put their hands up for Springbok selection. Staying home means they can represent their local teams, compete against some of the best players in the world, and keep themselves in the conversation for the green and gold jersey.

Kwagga is coming back. Cheslin is back. Malcolm Marx is coming back. Siya is back!

And that brings the bums back onto the seats because people want to see Cheslin versus Canan Moodie, or Eben versus Cobus Wiese.

These games are becoming a much easier sell. They’re also becoming a bloody good reason for your wife to ask, “Are we going to invite some people over on Saturday to watch the game?”

Which means brandies and vleis. PLEASE en DANKIE! So, yes, the URC still has some kak games. There are weekends with predictable scores, and there are fixtures that won’t exactly have you cancelling your Saturday plans.

But we’ve got our derbies back. We’ve got our Bokkies back. And we’re starting to build teams that South Africans can actually get excited about again.

Give it another season or two, and we might just find ourselves missing Super Rugby a little bit less.

Because at the end of the day, we don’t just want to watch rugby. We want to watch OUR players, OUR teams, and OUR rivalries.

And if that means a Saturday afternoon with the okes, a few brandies, a braai and the Sharks getting hammered by the Bulls (or vice versa), then so be it.

Fok, dis ruppie!

Westley is a passionate rugby supporter who loves a good scrum and side step. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.