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Report: South Africa to withdraw from opening rounds of Rugby Championship

By Online Editors
Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermuelen. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere is set for further disruptions this season with the Springboks set to withdraw from the first three rounds of next month’s Rugby Championship.

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The South Africa Rugby Union (SARU) have continuously suggested that the competition may be a step too far for the Springboks, who have only recently returned to play following the suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition is due to kick off on October 31st with the Springboks’ opening game a week later, but The Telegraph has reported that South Africa want to delay their entry into the tournament.

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While the All Blacks and Wallabies will have had plenty of rugby under their belts by the time the Rugby Championship kicks off, thanks to their local Super Rugby iterations as well as the two Bledisloe Cup games in New Zealand, South Africa’s top players have only featured in two matches at this stage.

It’s a similar story for the Pumas, with the Argentinians yet to play a first-class fixture since the resumption of their season. Argentina, however, have already made the trip to Australia while the Springboks have not left home.

South Africa’s partial withdrawal will cost SARU millions of dollars in lost revenue while the other three SANZAAR nations will also take a sizeable hit.

Whatever form the competition takes in 2020, broadcast rights will need to be re-negotiated as a four-team, six-round competition was initially signed off on. One possible option is adding an additional team from Australia or Oceania to the competition.

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As recently as last month, SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos was confident that the competition would go ahead as planned and that all four teams would be on board.

“I don’t think so. There’s too much at stake,” Marinos said when asked if the 2020 tournament was at risk.

“It’s just about how we can best manage individual needs of all the unions and this is the challenge we’ve got with the whole pandemic, there’s complexities at every single corner.”

In a statement issued last Saturday, SA Rugby outlined it still hadn’t signed off on the Springboks definitely participating in next month’s tournament.

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“The Springboks’ ability to participate in the Rugby Championship would be finalised early next week,” read the statement.

“The team is due to defend its title in Australia between November 7 and December 12, but several hurdles need to be cleared if it is to be confirmed.”

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There have been suggestions that SARU’s comments were simply a way of lowering expectations for the world champions, given they would be under-prepared compared to the All Blacks and the Wallabies.

Former World Cup-winning Springboks coach Jake White, currently coaching the Bulls in the South African domestic competition, has previously said he didn’t think the team would be ready for the Rugby Championship.

“I understand fully that it’s not the ideal preparation and, probably, if I was a coach I’d be asking SA Rugby to try and find ways in which we don’t participate because the situation is a bit unfair,” White said after the Bulls game in Pretoria.

“There are locally based players who’ve only played two competitive games and now have to go into Rugby Championship. It’s not ideal.”

White conceded that the financial implications of a withdrawal may force SARU’s hand, but the union has evidently decided that the possible repercussions of taking part in the competition outweigh any financial consequences.

SANZAAR released a statement earlier today saying it had given South Africa further time to work through their plans for the Rugby Championship before any formal decision is reached.

“Following a SANZAAR chief executive’s teleconference call on Tuesday, 13 October, the SANZAAR member unions have agreed to provide South Africa Rugby with an additional 48 hours to finalise its internal stakeholder discussions,” the statement read.

“This will now delay the scheduled departure of the Springboks from South Africa to Australia.

“SANZAAR will provide an update on the resolution of these discussions and a timetable for the Springboks’ participation in The Rugby Championship when available in the coming days.

“The Bledisloe Cup fixtures between Australia and New Zealand on Saturday, 31 October, and Saturday, 7 November, in Sydney and Brisbane respectively, are unaffected and will go ahead as scheduled.”

Even if South Africa do join the competition from the outset, the delay in their travel to Australia will almost certainly lead to re-scheduling of their opening match Argentina.

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

39 Go to comments
A
Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

39 Go to comments
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