All Blacks captain Sam Cane ruled out of World Cup opener

SARU are just getting on their feet and some stability again, give them some time to start scouting the waters. Show initiative and get a South African team in the new european comp playing out of dubai or Lagos or somewhere feasible that will invovle North Africa.

A brilliant and often overlooked 9. Incredibly good around the rucks.

Increasingly looking like Joe knows exactly what he’s doing here!

They seem to have come around though.

There’s simply no debating the Prem has a much weaker model to the URC, and funds to the Top14.

Certainly there has been a lot published, like every other league, about growth after COVID, the question really, which they hide the answer to, is where they have been at before. I think it will work for them, and these currently vocal owners are just over negative, or lacking judgement.

Aspects like promotion and relegation are interesting, though it doesn’t sound like they have got it quite right, it might give the incentive for the Champ sides to change they perspective on going pro. As I’ve said about rugby in the SH, their has to be a plan and a foundation to allow it to work. Is the Super Rugby model what’s needed to combat France? How will the Premiership reduce and focus all the talent into those half a dozen elite teams? How if and when rugby booms again can they move back to two tier model of clubs rather than franchises?

I really like the idea England produce Franchises or mega clubs, some sort of representative and meaningful county system (or whatever they call it there) to take on those in the rest of Britain. It’s just gotta be done right and time right, to coincide with Europe and Africa. SK or Wayneo brought up some great information about how the area is a target for growth.