Jurie spells out Bok and local rugby outlook for rest of year
SA Rugby is still planning to start a domestic competition in late August or early September, and the amount of on-field game time that will be possible for the top players will determine the viability of the Springbok participation in a mooted 2020 edition of the Rugby Championship.
So says SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux, who spoke to the SA media via an online conference.
Roux said with most of the local franchises back in training this week, albeit under strict guidelines, things were looking up, but the situation remained fluid and was subject to change on a daily basis.
What he was able to say with some certainty, though, was that there would be no international matches played on SA soil before the end of 2020.
That means the incoming tours that were to feature Test matches against Scotland and Georgia, and initially scheduled for July but subsequently rescheduled to October, have been cancelled.
The annual end-of-year tour will also not proceed in the format planned, although there does appear to be a chance, albeit an outside one, that the World Cup champions will travel north should the Rugby Championship not take place.
Roux was careful to emphasise, though, that it was an either/or scenario — the Boks would not participate in the Rugby Championship and go on the end-of-year tour as time will no longer allow it.
And there is still a strong possibility they will do neither, with Roux saying the prospect of the national team playing international rugby without having played any domestic rugby before that was difficult to envisage.
He said it would be up to national director of rugby Rassie Erasmus and Springbok coach
Jacques Nienaber to decide whether there was a realistic chance of the team being properly prepared to play in a Rugby Championship that would feature teams that have already been back on the playing field for some time.
Roux confirmed that Sanzaar, the umbrella organisation that runs Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship, is still looking to stage a Rugby Championship this year.
“Our return-to-play plan is still to start a domestic competition featuring eight teams in the last weekend of August or the first weekend of September. That would give us enough time to complete a domestic competition by the end of the year.
“It is essential for us to get the players back as soon as possible as we need to ensure they get enough game time if any kind of participation in international competition before the end of 2020 is going to be possible.”
“The only real chance is if we do get enough domestic rugby in and the Championship is played in a New Zealand bubble. We might look at the possibility of playing in the northern hemisphere only if the Championship idea falls through, but we can’t do both.”
Roux said he shared the fears of those who felt the Boks would be on the back foot if the Rugby Championship did take place, given the fact that New Zealand and Australia are already deep into their respective domestic competitions at a stage when SA players are only just starting to train again.
“Our director of rugby and coach will decide where we stand and whether we have enough time to be properly prepared for international rugby matches against New Zealand and Australia by October.”