URC dominance not a guarantee of World Cup success

South African teams are currently riding the crest of the wave in the United Rugby Championship.

However, the eight-from-eight success rate against teams from outside the Republic does not guarantee another all-South African Final.

Neither does it guarantee the Springboks' success in the World Cup in France next year.

This cautious note was sounded by World Cup-winning Springbok captain John Smit, who said taking 'positive momentum' into a World Cup is always important.

But with France 2023 still a full year away, there is plenty of rugby to be played.

Smit said winning is always a massing part of a team's momentum, as happened with his Springboks in 2007 - when the Sharks and Bulls played in the first-ever all-South African Super Rugby Final.

"You certainly want to carry positive momentum into a tournament," he told @rugby365com.

"In 2007 it was a massive bonus for us," he said during a URC media round table event.

However, Smit said if you look at Siyamthanda Kolisi's team 18 months before the 2019 World Cup, they were not in a good space.

They were ranked sixth in the world and were struggling to get above a 50 percent win margin.

"We didn't really have great results at a franchise level either," Smit said, adding: "But they managed to make a plan in an 18-month period [to win the World Cup]."

"For us it was critical," he said of the class of 2007.

"It was part of our plan over a four-year period.

"It certainly would be [good] for Jacques [Nienaber] and his team now, bearing in mind they are defending a title.

"You want to get as much of that positive momentum going into a tournament which, I think, is going to be the most contested to date."

He said the current URC results are more for the fans than for national coaches.

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"If you're a South African at the moment you are loving the URC.

"We [SA teams] were in a very different position this time last year, at the beginning of the tournament.

"Spectators and fans were jumping off the edges of buildings, [saying:] 'This was the worst mistake ever.'

"At the end of the tournament, it was the best thing ever.

"Perspective is one thing and players' confidence is another.

"[For] players, their confidence and their momentum is what will be what counts and that can only be told at the end of the tournament.

"If this [results] remains like this [in SA teams' favour] - and there's still a lot to happen in the URC - it will help.

"However, it is still a long, long way before the World Cup [in France in 2023].

"A lot can happen in the world of rugby in a year."

@king365ed

@rugby365com