Springbok captains run on 28 July 2023, ahead of their match against Las Pumas. File Picture: Timothy Bernard, African News Agency (ANA)
The news that the Springboks are to continue playing the All Blacks, Wallabies and Pumas every year is good news but there is a drawback to not joining the Six Nations.
SA Rugby had hoped to gain admission to the Six Nations for two reasons – it is a far more lucrative tournament than the Rugby Championship, plus full alignment with the northern hemisphere would solve the problem of the players currently not having an off-season.
As things stand, the European season takes a break in July, August, and September.
If South Africa was in the Six Nations, our top players would be off during that period, which is when the Rugby Championship is played in the southern hemisphere.
This is the single biggest problem of South Africa having one leg in each hemisphere – at provincial level they are in the north and at the international level they are in the south, meaning a rugby season that never really ends.
There is not one month in the year where there are no rugby matches.
This is a far cry from the amateur era when rugby was a winter sport, cricket was a summer sport, and the two never overlapped.
This is the bad news from the breakdown in negotiations between the business partners of the Six Nations and SA Rugby.
The company CVC Capital has invested huge sums in rugby over the past few years and struck a £365 million deal with the Six Nations back in 2021.
They have also put £230m into the English Premiership as well as buying a £120m stake in the PRO14 competition that morphed into the United Rugby Championship after the South African franchises joined. CVC and SA Rugby have been talking for two years but an agreement has not been reached, according to reports.
This means the Boks will remain in the Rugby Championship and from a rugby point of view this is positive because it means the Boks have the best of both worlds in terms of gaining rugby intelligence.
By being in the URC, they keep abreast of the trends in Europe, and playing the Rugby Championship keeps them (indirectly) up to date with what is happening in Super Rugby.
From a rugby knowledge point of view, there can be no downside to regular contact with the All Blacks, Wallabies and Pumas.
The All Blacks visit Cape Town and Johannesburg later this year and the grounds hosting those matches could probably sell out twice over, such is the interest in the Boks playing the old foe, especially after the epic World Cup final.
As mentioned earlier, the downside is how do you ensure that the players get a break.
Unfortunately for the provinces, this responsibility is going to fall on them.
We have seen how the Sharks suffered last year when their big contingent of Boks was removed from the URC for a long period by SA Rugby decree. You could say that the decision on the Six Nations is good for the Springboks but not so good for the provinces.
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