Six Nations ‘very cautious’ over South Africa’s desire to join up

The prospect of South Africa joining the Six Nations receded yesterday when the tournament’s chief executive revealed his concerns about expanding the championship.

However, Ben Morel revealed that talks were under way to revive the Nations Championship concept from 2024.

Despite being committed to the Rugby Championship until 2030, South Africa have long coveted a place in the Six Nations, particularly since their franchises are now involved in the United Rugby Championship.

Yet despite the obvious commercial attraction of adding the world champions to the Six Nations, Morel said his greater priority lay with the Nations Championship.

“It’s not a question of what I’d like,” Morel said. “South Africa is committed to the Rugby Championship. The Six Nations has added and reduced its teams very few times in its 140 years, so it’s something we’d be very cautious about doing.

“Our current focus is the July and November windows and how we can improve them. We believe it could be a great platform for all countries to create global growth for the game.”

The attempt to launch the Nations Championship last year with an expanded international window foundered on staunch opposition from the clubs. Despite the poor quality of rugby, the inaugural Autumn Nations Cup in which England

defeated France in the final was well received by commercial partners such as Amazon Prime.

Speaking at the launch of the Autumn Nations Series, Morel hoped that an annual competition involving northern and southern hemispheres with a final could still be feasible.

“We’re pretty happy with what we have but we’re sure it could be improved,” he said. “We are working hand in hand to find a solution. Some sort of a final is always exciting and I think that’s what the fans would want to see.”