Sanzaar rubbishes talk of Boks exit

The prospect of the Springboks joining an expanded Six Nations has been rubbished by Sanzaar boss Andy Marinos.

Alarm bells were ringing in the southern hemisphere this month when British reports suggested the world champions could split from the Rugby Championship after the 2023 World Cup in France and make a ‘‘Seven Nations’’ in 2024.

But Sanzaar chief executive Marinos, speaking at a function in Sydney, revealed that South Africa had given his organisation – which also has New Zealand, Australia and Argentina as partners – a commitment through to the end of the current broadcast deal in 2025.

He brushed aside the reports as ‘‘media speculation’’ and he didn’t foresee any Six Nations expansion given the struggles since Italy joined in 2000.

‘‘I think you’ve got to take a step back and just realise where we are in the world rugby political landscape right now,’’ Marinos was quoted in an article on South Africa’s Sport24.

‘‘There’s [World Rugby] elections coming up in May, there’s a whole lot of positioning and jostling going on.

‘‘There’s going to be a couple of outrageous statements that have been thrown across the bow.

‘‘Having played in and administered in the UK for a number of years, the likelihood of Six

Nations opening up their borders anymore; they’ve learned a hard lesson, they went from five to six with Italy. I’ve just put a bit of a reality check with that.

‘‘The second thing that I think is important for stakeholders both in Africa and Sydney and the rest of Sanzaar is our South African directors have been pretty clear with us.

‘‘It’s nothing more than media speculation and I think someone’s just trying to stoke a little bit of fire.’’