Champions Cup

Springbok Green & Investec Champions Cup Gold

No South African club will play in the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals this weekend, but there will be plenty Springbok Green and Gold on show.

Published

7 minutes ago

29th April 2026

Keo

Jacques Nienaber, the Leinster senior coach is one of four South African coaches in the Investec

Springbok players and coaches have a history in the Investec Champions Cup, which is as celebrated as the tournament, and this weekend a new group of Bok elite get to add another chapter to this love affair with club rugby’s greatest tournament.

The 2023 Rugby World Cup Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber will be integral to Leinster’s home semi-final against three-time champions Toulon. Nienaber, the 2023 World Cup-winning coach and 2019 World Cup-winning assistant coach, won the United Rugby Championship with Leinster last season, but his first two Investec Champions Cup campaigns ended in heartbreak at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Leinster have won the title four times.

Bath’s Johann van Graan, the 2015 Springboks World Cup assistant coach and bronze medal winner, has transformed the English club into one of Europe’s giants in the past 12 months. Bath won the EPCR Challenge Cup last season and play the defending champions Bordeaux in Bordeaux, which was the host city when Bath won the title in 1997.

‘We’re very excited and we’re looking forward to a brilliant match as a group,’ said Van Graan on the EPCR. ‘

‘This is the one competition that we, as a group, haven’t won and we’re coming up against the current champions in their backyard – that’s the opportunity you want. The team we’re coming up against has more strengths than most and they’re a great team, but we think we’re a good team. So, it’s about going out there and being the best version of ourselves.’

Johann van Graan, Bath coach

Bordeaux have former Springboks Heinie Adams and Shaun Sowerby in the coaching staff. Both players spent a decade playing club rugby in France and both have lived in France for close to 20 years.

Sowerby left the Sharks in South Africa to play in France and spent the majority of his club career as one of the leading No 8s in the Top 14 and European competitions. He played 50 matches for Paris-based Stade Francais, is a Centurion with Toulouse (113) and finished his playing career at Grenoble. He won the Top 14 and Champions Cup with Toulouse and coached at Biarritz and Montpellier before joining Bordeaux.

Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie

Adams, a former Bulls scrumhalf, played 60 times for Bordeaux between 2010 and 2016.

©INPHO/James Crombie

Toulon’s South African presence comes in the form of lock David Ribbans, who has played 11 times for England.

TOULON’S SPRINGBOKS BAKKIES BOTHA AND BRYAN HABANA VOTED EPCR’S BEST

Ribbans was born and raised in the Western Cape and played his youth rugby for Western Province before moving to Northampton Saints in England. He qualified for England through his grand parents and played the last of his Test matches at the 2023 World Cup in France. He is ineligible for England because he plays his club rugby outside of the Prem in England.

He will be eligible for the Springboks in November this year.