- SA Rugby is hoping to stage a local Super Rugby tournament as early as August, similar to New Zealand’s Super Rugby Aotearoa that begins this weekend.
- PRO14 sides the Cheetahs and Southern Kings would form part of the revamped domestic competition, alongside the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions.
- Currie Cup and Under-21 competitions could follow suit in September, should rugby be allowed contact training in Level 2.
SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux confirmed on Monday that the sport’s governing body was planning for their own version of Super Rugby, much like New Zealand’s Super Rugby Aotearoa, to begin in August at the earliest.
However, unlike New Zealand’s competition, which begins with the Highlanders facing the Chiefs in Dunedin this weekend, South Africa’s competition would be held behind closed doors.
The plan hinges heavily, of course, on government’s existing and evolving Covid-19 regulations, which, according to Roux, could allow rugby to return to contact training in Level 2, should all health boxes be ticked.
Professional contact sports were given the amber light to return to non-contact training by the sports, arts and culture minister, Nathi Mthethwa, at the end of May, provided they supplied government with a clear health and safety protocol.
According to Roux SA Rugby submitted a comprehensive 500-page return-to-training and return-to-play protocol to government, which he said was awaiting the green light for non-contact training in “the next couple of days”.
Rugby was targeting a return to training by next Monday and they needed a four to six-week period to get players ready to play on the field for competitive rugby, said Roux. If all goes according to plan, Super Rugby could return as early as August.
“Realistically, it’s becoming a bigger chance than it previously was,” said Roux.
“Our plan is to have a home-based, truncated, domestic version of Super Rugby for a period of time and then go into a Currie Cup competition as well as an Under-21 competition, following that on with international fixtures, pending a decision on border restrictions.
“Basically, you would have a Super Rugby version, based on the fact that the Kings and the Cheetahs will most likely be unable to travel to the north, with them being part of the competition for that month.”
For the most part, it seems rugby has successfully convinced government that the sport is ready to get back to the field sooner than had been anticipated.
Roux said SA Rugby had a couple of contingency scenarios in place to have the competitions staged in either a Johannesburg-based “Bio-Bubble” – as mooted by Rugby Australia and the US’s NBA – or same day travel to game cities by chartered flight.
“The one issue we couldn’t get away from was that we are a contact sport – that’s why we like it, that’s why we’re in the game and that’s what we have to live with. We had to bide our time and go through the process,” Roux said.
“Initially we thought we would only return to training somewhere in August and return to play somewhere in September. But since the subsequent announcements by government, we have had some very interesting negotiations with them.
“If government wants us to have a ‘Bio-Bubble’, we’ll obviously do that, and the most likely venue for it would be Johannesburg, for a number of logistic reasons.
“If that’s not necessary, we’ve got a second plan that will involve certain elements of travel around chartered flights and dedicated hotels. We want the least amount of engagement within the environment. It will almost be a scenario where you fly in the morning for the game, play, and then fly out in the evening.”
Springbok Rugby World Cup winners, should the competitions go ahead, would be made available to participate, with the hope that they would be ready for international rugby during the revised October-November Test window.
“The Springboks will absolutely be involved,” he said.
“We need them to get back to match fitness, to be slim and trim again after the lockdown and then we need to get them back to being contact fit and game fit, etc.”
