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South Africa to stay in SANZAAR - for now
By RugbyPass
On the weekend that the Cheetahs and Kings are set to play their first games in the Pro 14 competition, South African rugby bosses have reaffirmed their official allegiance to SANZAAR.
But they're looking on the bright side of having a foot in both hemispheres.
CEO Jurie Roux told The Guardian that leaving SANZAAR was not an option. Their existing deal runs until 2020, however South Africa is due to host the British & Irish Lions in 2021.
Roux said: "This is a very exciting time for South Africa rugby."
"But we are really good for each other, so we will still participate; we are strong because we play against Australia and New Zealand," he said.
"We can never have eight franchises in Sanzaar, we can have four or five maximum and maybe we'll even go down to three.
"But at least now we have options.
"We still need to play against Australia and New Zealand to be the best, so I don't see the relationship ending but we'll have more exposure up north," he said.
It was possible that more South African teams could be involved in the Pro 14 but that wouldn't be discussed until the Cheetahs and Kings had assessed their involvement in that competition.
The Cheetahs play Ulster on Friday in Belfast while the Scarlets host the Southern Kings in Llanelli on Saturday.
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I still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
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