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'We are burning our assets into the ground': Bok greats on South Africa joining Six Nations
Ever since the South African club sides joined the United Rugby Championship, and then the European competitions after, it has seemed to many that we are moving inexorably towards the Springboks joining the Six Nations.
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There are undeniable benefits to the world champions joining the Six Nations for all parties concerned, but it remains an idea that is not universally welcomed in South Africa, as shown on RugbyPass’ ‘Boks Office’ recently.
Two Springbok centurions, Jean de Villiers and Bryan Habana, joined double World Cup winner Damian Willemse and host Hanyani Shimange on the show during the Cape Town SVNS, where they gave their views on the Springboks joining the northern hemisphere competition.
While the Springboks’ record try-scorer Habana was dead set against his compatriots relocating to a new competition, de Villiers appeared to be slightly more on the fence, although he does feel South Africa currently have “the best of both worlds.”
“The thing there is, we’re giving our opinion in what we think is best for South Africa, but do they want us there?” the former centre asked.
“I don’t think so,” Habana replied.
De Villiers added: “The Six Nations, what it stands for, the history of it, you need to ask those questions as well. How does it influence the history of the game and all of that. I think we’ve got the best of both worlds currently where we play our club rugby in the northern hemisphere and and we play our international rugby in the southern hemisphere in the Rugby Championship. So you get the best of both worlds.
“If we were to move totally to the northern hemisphere, we’ve already seen the logistical challenges with that and I think we’ll lose a big part of what South African rugby is all about, because we play New Zealand so much, because we play Australia and Argentina so much. So from that point of view, moving away to me will be risky. But a lot of the decisions get made on a financial basis and not really on the rugby as such, to be brutally honest.”
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The problem that South Africa face currently is that their international fixtures straddle the northern hemisphere’s off-season, meaning their players get little to no break. However, instead of the Springboks leaving the Rugby Championship, Habana proposed how this problem can be solved by creating a global calendar.
“I don’t think we should move,” the former winger said. “If we really want rugby to become a global game, the season needs to start in September, the Rugby Championship needs to move to the Six Nations window, then it’s a global calendar. Jean talked about the financial impact, the money, as we’ve seen, is [gestures higher].
“If we really want a global season, everyone must start in September. Jean says we have the best of both worlds, but these guys [South Africa players] aren’t getting any rest now because they’re literally going from Champions Cup, if they make it to the knockouts, URC, if they make it to the knockouts, into a Springbok season, into the Rugby Championship, and then end of year tour.
The Springboks’ workload is a major area of concern currently, and de Villiers discussed the toll that will have on the players. He said: “Whoever is watching, we love the game of rugby. At this stage, especially from a South African point of view, we are burning our assets into the ground. Especially those playing in South Africa. That is the issue for us. Physically, they can probably take it, but the mental aspect of it, the whole Owen Farrell thing as well now, the mental aspect of representing your country, the issues that go with that, that is huge. I think we’re at the start of that from a rugby point of view in terms of mental health, but we need to look after these guys. We want the product to be good and for the product to be good you need your best players on the field more times than not.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
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