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Reports from England suggest Georgia will be included before the Springboks in the Eight Nations tournament in November.
The tournament, with teams divided into two groups, is scheduled to begin on November 14 after the conclusion of this season’s postponed Six Nations.
Initially, the teams in dispute were the Six Nations teams along with Japan and Fiji, because New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina were not available to participate in the competition, as they are provisionally scheduled to play the Rugby Championship delayed in October.
But since Japan’s abrupt withdrawal from the eight-team tournament, confirmed on Thursday, organizers were thought to have expected South Africa to join in terms of participation.
However the Telegraph reports that Georgia, not the Springboks, will replace Japan in the tournament, and an official confirmation is expected in the coming weeks.
According to the report, Georgia will be in the same group as England, Ireland and Wales. Scotland, France, Italy and Fiji will be in the second group.
The Springboks now take the Rugby Championship, if they are to play Test Rugby this year. Sanzaar expects the Championship to take place in New Zealand from November 7 to December 12.
However, with a South African domestic tournament only starting in October, the Springboks could enter the tournament without cooking as they will have to leave the country before October 18 to comply with New Zealand’s quarantine rules.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber had initially asked for six weeks of regular competition to get his players in shape, given that both New Zealand and Australia have already had a couple of months of their respective national tournaments.
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Photo: Hannah Peters / Getty Images
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