1
Sharks boss claims Springboks 'will definitely' join Six Nations
By Sam Smith
The Springboks "will definitely" join the Six Nations over the coming years, according to the chief executive of the Sharks.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Ed Coetzee said South Africa's move from the Rugby Championship to the Six Nations is inevitable.
"I think it will definitely happen,” he said. “I think if we asked them now, they would say never. But if we also asked them if we would play in Europe, they would have said never. So I think it is a natural progression – it's bound to happen."
Coetzee suggested a promotion-relegation mechanism may be added to the Six Nations to allow for the inclusion of other teams such as Georgia.
He also said the rising financial investments of private equity firms in rugby means profitable and commercially sustainable tournaments will be appealing
“I think there might be a promotion and relegation. I think Georgia are also pushing hard and Italy haven't been great.
"You have the likes of private-equity guys, CVC, coming into rugby and they are not coming in to lose money. They want commercially sound, scalable competitions – it just makes sense.
"The only thing we have in common with New Zealand and Australia is that we are in the southern hemisphere. There is about a 15-hour journey to Sydney – how do you compete?”
Coetzee's comments come after South Africa's franchises - the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers - made the move to Europe's United Rugby Championship (formerly the PRO14) following their departure from Super Rugby in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
SANZAAR announced last year that SA Rugby had committed itself to the Rugby Championship until 2030 after missing last year's Tri-Nations due to concerns around the pandemic.
However, with the virus causing disruptions around the globe, whether that commitment will be upheld over the next nine years remains to be seen.
The Springboks, meanwhile, will get a taste of some of the best the Six Nations has to offer when they take on the British and Irish Lions in the opening test of their series in Cape Town on Saturday.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Wallaroos captain reflects on Black Ferns’ success with sevens stars
3
Springboks flyhalf's latest injury worry
4
Initial Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update does not sound promising
5
Latest Comments
Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol!
It's incredible to see the boys playing like this. Back to the form that saw them finish on top of the regular season and beat Toulon to win the challenge cup. Ibitoye and Ravouvou doing a cracking Piutau/Radradra impression.
It's abundantly clear that Borthwick and Wigglesworth need to transform the England attack and incorporate some of the Bears way. Unfortunately until the Bears are competing in Europe, the old criticisms will still be used.. we failed to fire any punches against La Rochelle and Leinster which goes to show there is still work to do but both those sides are packed full of elite players so it's not the fairest comparison to expect Bristol to compete with them. I feel Bristol are on the way up though and the best is yet to come. Tom Jordan next year is going to be obscene.
Test rugby is obviously a different beast and does Borthwick have enough time with the players to develop the level of skill the Bears plays have? Even if he wanted to? We should definitely be able to see some progress, Scotland have certainly managed it. England aren't going to start throwing the ball around like that but England's attack looks prehistoric by comparison, I hope they take some inspiration from the clarity and freedom of expression shown by the Bears (and Scotland - who keep beating us, by the way!). Bristol have the best attack in the premiership, it'd be mad for England to ignore it because it doesn't fit with the Borthwick and Wigglesworth idea of how test rugby should be played. You gotta use what is available to you. Sadly I think England will try reluctantly to incorporate some of these ideas and end up even more confused and lacking identity than ever. At the moment England have two teams, they have 14 players and Marcus Smith. Marcus sticks out as a sore thumb in a team coached to play in a manner ideologically opposed to the way he plays rugby, does the Bears factor confuse matters further? I just have no confidence in Borthers and Wiggles.
Crazy to see the Prem with more ball in play than SR!
Go to commentsWhat these stats actually seem to show is that there isn't a massive about of variation in the number of cards/penalties conceded by the top teams.
South Africa received 13 yellow cards in 13 matches; Ireland received 11 in 12; New Zealand received 11 in 14. The difference is pretty immaterial.
In terms of penalties, SA conceded 131 in 13 matches; England conceded 111 in 12. Considering England had the best record of anyone, SA are hardly far off the pace.
Go to comments