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- The local rugby is scheduled to return in late September.
- A unique Springbok Showdown will take place on October 3 with teams selected by Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber.
- This will be followed by a local competition between seven franchises with the final scheduled for January.
Rugby fans in South Africa will finally have something to rejoice in, as the sport is set to return to action later this month.
The season will resume on September 26 with a double game at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, when the Bulls take on the Sharks, and the Lions fight the Stormers on Super Fan Saturday.
But it’s the Springbok Showdown, a one-of-a-kind match that will pit the hottest local stars and hottest up-and-coming talents against each other on October 3 and will get fans talking.
Springbok assistant coaches Mzwandile Stick and Deon Davids will coach Springbok Green against Springbok Gold for the match at Newlands in Cape Town with Rassie Erasmus (rugby director) and Jacques Nienaber (Springbok coach) serving as the team’s two commissioners.
The selection process will take the form of a draft selection from an expanded team of 60 players with Green and Gold team leaders taking alternate turns on an old-fashioned ‘schoolyard pick’ to assemble their teams of 25 players each one.
The expanded squad from which teams will be chosen will be announced live on Supersport this Saturday before the crucial draft pick next week.
Erasmus believes that this unique match is the perfect opportunity for the players to return to the field after the blockade in South Africa.
“This will not only be an opportunity to see the best of the best available in South Africa face off against each other in what promises to be something never seen before, it will also provide the players with another valuable opportunity to shed rust. and getting your legs and lungs working after not having played any rugby in the last six months, ”Erasmus said.
“Players will be encouraged to show their skills, individually and in their teams, and while it will be comprehensive, we expect to see a highly competitive match of quality players against each other.
“It will be exciting, from the moment we select the teams, with a series of twists in good measure, to the preparation of the match and the actual meeting in Cape Town.”
After the Springbok Showdown, a local double-round competition, between seven franchises, begins the weekend of October 10.
The details of the local competition, with each of the teams facing each other at home and away and each team enjoying two byes during the competition, will be published in the coming days.
In what is yet another first for South African rugby, local competition will continue through Christmas and New Years and culminate in a semi-finals (January 16) and a final on January 23 next year.
“This is a very exciting plan for the coming months, considering all the challenges we have faced this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it will be great to see our best local rugby heroes fight from October to January,” said Jurie Roux , CEO of SA Rugby.
“We have worked very hard with the government, SuperSport, our various sponsors and the franchises to get to this point and it is great to know that we can now look forward to brilliant provincial rugby in the coming months.”
Roux confirmed that spectators will not be allowed to attend matches.
