1
Springboks' Lions prep in disarray after Sharks CEO suggests 'Rainbow Cup will be cancelled'
The Springboks will likely have to go back to the drawing board to reassess their preparations for the British and Irish Lions series with news that the Rainbow Cup is likely to be cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Lions, Bulls, Sharks and Stormers were set for a first foray into Europe after it was confirmed in March that the PRO14 Rainbow Cup would kick-off on the weekend of 24 April.
However, that is looking increasingly unlikely, with news that the participation of the South African franchises in the new tournament won’t be sanctioned. Yesterday Rugby 365 reported that the UK government in Westminster was reluctant to grant visas for the South African teams to play out of a bio-bubble in Bristol.
While there was no scheduled English involvement in the Rainbow Cup, the four SA teams were to set to commute to their games in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy from the English city. The South African franchises were told last week that they should halt their visa applications.
This morning, the CEO of the Sharks, Eduard Coetzee has told a South African newspaper that he understands that the tournament is likely to be canned.
“We have little information at this stage, but it seems to be the case that the Rainbow Cup will be cancelled,” Coetzee told Rapport in SA.
Last week, Springboks Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus, who confirmed the first Springbok ‘alignment camps’, said that with less than 90 days remaining before the arrival of the touring British and Irish Lions, they will “have to make every day count.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Maybe tellingly, there was no mention of The Rainbow Cup in the official SA Rugby statement.
“The local players will meet up with the coaches, medical and conditioning staff and rest of the management over the next two weeks, while we have similar plans for our European and Japanese-based players, with Felix Jones hosting sessions in the UK and France and the Japanese based-players joining us on virtual meetings,” said Erasmus.
REPORT: A concerning development for the PRO14 and SA Rugby. #RainbowCup ??https://t.co/XNUjRDL27j
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2021
While South African players based abroad will be seeing game time for their respective clubs, it’s the Springbok home-based players that will be in need of high-level game time ahead of the Lions series, whose first match on SA soil kicks off on July 3rd.
In February SA Rugby held preparation fixtures featuring eight South African sides, including the Vodacom Bulls, Lions, Tafel Lager Griquas, Toyota Cheetahs, Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, NNC Pumas and Eastern Province Elephants.
While this competition proved helpful, Erasmus and Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber will have eager to test the mettle of their elite players in more rarified air. What that actually looks like over the next two months, is not yet clear.
ADVERTISEMENT
Last year the New Zealand Rugby staged ‘North versus South’ fixtures which proved highly popular with the public and provided near Test level competition ahead of the Tri-Nations. Springbok trial matches or even ad-hoc Test fixtures must surely now be in the cards for the Springboks, who have not played any international rugby since winning the Rugby World Cup in Japan at the end of the 2019 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lions picks… @chrisrobshaw selects his Lions XV for the first Test https://t.co/328EmbNkxk
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments