SA Rugby issues statement casting doubt on Springboks participation in Rugby Championship

South Africa has yet to confirm that the world champions Springboks will definitely defend their Rugby Championship title later this year in Australia.

Rugby has just returned to South Africa in recent weeks after being halted due to the coronavirus pandemic and a test match took place in Cape Town last Saturday.

However, even though the southern hemisphere testing season started with New Zealand taking on Australia in Wellington on Sunday and Argentina has already arrived to clear the quarantine in Australia, the situation regarding the Springboks is still not 100% clear.

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In a statement issued Saturday, SA Rugby indicated that it has not yet signed the Springboks’ final participation in next month’s tournament.

“The ability of the Springboks to participate in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship would be finalized early next week,” the statement read.

? UPDATE: Castle Lager Rugby Championship
? https: //t.co/VMCrk3760M pic.twitter.com/CS8vcO6wjQ

– Springboks (@Springboks) October 10, 2020

“The team must defend their title in Australia between November 7 and December 12, but several obstacles must be overcome to confirm this.

“The South African government lifted the ban on international sports participation a week ago and instructions for managing such participation were published on Wednesday night.”

A spokesperson added that SA Rugby was seeking further clarification from the arts, sports, culture and transportation departments on how those regulations would affect planned participation.

A final decision is likely to be made early next week once those clarifications have been discussed internally and with SA Rugby’s SANZAAR partners.

The Springboks, who have not had a test match since winning the World Cup final against England last November in Yokohama, are scheduled to open their Rugby Championship campaign with a November 7 match against Argentina in Brisbane. before moving to Sydney to take on the host country. a week later.

Back-to-back matches against the All Blacks in Sydney and Newcastle will follow.

When the All Blacks take the field against Australia in October for their first Test Match of the year, New Zealand fans will be cheering from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Https://t.co/gYA0TEwbQa

– RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 10, 2020