SA can no longer afford a World Cup

REIGNING World Cup champions South Africa will not get a chance to win another global event on home soil in the near future.

Following their unsuccessful bid to host the 2023 tournament, South Africa Rugby chiefs won’t be putting in bids for the 2027 and 2031 events over reports they can no longer afford it.

In 2017, South Africa was the preferred candidate to host the 2023 World Cup ahead of Ireland and France.

But in a controversial move World Rugby Council voted for France, who received 24 votes compared to South Africa’s 15 in the second round of voting.

Ireland were eliminated in the first round.

Now according to the Afrikaans newspaper Rapport, SA Rugby can no longer afford to host the tournament, therefore it wouldn’t make sense to bid.

“The government will not currently be able to secure the guarantee of R2-billion, which was last required by World Rugby,” a source told Rapport when asked if SA Rugby could bid again.

“Not now with the state of the economy, and especially not with what the economy will look like after the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Australia is expected to be awarded the right to host the 2027 World Cup, while the United States of America will top the early queue to host the 2031 event.

World Rugby is set to vote and make the announcement in May 2022.

■ THE return of New Zealand’s North v South rugby game seems likely to be relocated to Wellington.

On Monday, NZ Rugby confirmed that it’s working through contingency plans for the August 29 fixture, including a move from Auckland’s Eden Park to play the match at Wellington’s Sky Stadium on the same day.

Auckland’s Covid-19 alert level 3 lockdown is scheduled to last until at least midnight on Wednesday, August 26.

That would give the teams just a few days to train together before the game took place, which suggests a move to the restrictionfree capital makes sense.

Both squads will be announced at midday today and will now assemble in Wellington next Monday, rather than the original location of Auckland, NZ Rugby has announced.

The organisation is awaiting approval for a government exemption to allow the Aucklandbased players and management to leave the region and travel to Wellington.

In the event that the match can’t go ahead in Auckland, NZ Rugby confirmed all ticket holders will be refunded.