Their worth, says SA rugby chief

Rugby. You can see the keen interest in this competition from our broadcasters when we are not even playing in it.

“So, I think it’s a new energy with new teams. Hopefully, it will be supported.

“There’s some clashes with domestic competition (Currie Cup) in the first year, but we will overcome that problems in the next two months in a restructuring of competitions for 2018.

“Some games will be broadcast and some not, as much as the broadcasters can deliver on, hopefully enough to entertain everybody.

“There’s also a fair argument at the moment that there’s too much rugby on TV, so maybe we can strike a balance there.

“The fact is we have got two teams playing international rugby. They will be on the pitch and they will be playing.

“We know it’s going to be tough the first two years.

“We are not blind to that and we are going in with open eyes, but we are happy there’s faith in us and, after two years, we will have proven ourselves, both from a sustainable point of view and, more importantly, from a quality and performance view.”

The Super Rugby agreement between Sanzaar, the umbrella organisation made up of the South African, New Zealand, Australian and Argentine unions, runs out after the 2020 tournament.

Roux said South Africa was “committed to Sanzaar” and added: “We are going into a negotiation period. We will make a decision on that.”