South Africa's Rugby Championship opener in doubt as departure delayed
South Africa’s involvement in the Rugby Championship remains uncertain and their first fixture on November 7 is in major doubt after SANZAAR confirmed the world champions would not fly to Australia as expected this weekend.
SANZAAR has imposed a Friday deadline on South Africa to confirm whether they will participate in this year’s Rugby Championship, set to take place in Australia across six weeks from November 7 until December 12.
SA Rugby released a statement on Saturday saying a decision would be “finalised early next week” but, after a phone hook-up overnight, SANZAAR announced on Wednesday its member unions would give the SARU another 48 hours to decide whether the Springboks will join Australia, New Zealand and Argentina for the six-week tournament.
South Africa has reservations about sending the Springboks to Australia given the side’s limited preparation and is concerned about player welfare.
The SARU has been aware for some time the Springboks, whose last Test was against England in the World Cup final in Yokohama, would be coming into the Rugby Championship underdone given COVID-19 prevented its local players from getting game time.
However, the financial blow to not only SARU but other unions will be significant, with tens of millions of dollars on the line in the form of broadcast dollars.
South Africa are no guarantees to contest The Rugby Championship.Credit:Getty
The Springboks were set to fly from South Africa to Australia on the weekend but that has now been pushed back with organisers scrambling to come up with a solution.
Players have to undergo two weeks of quarantine in Australia - they are able to still train as a whole squad during this period - but pushing back South Africa's departure date has jeopardised the November 7 fixture against Argentina in Brisbane.
SANZAAR was already forced to move the Australia and New Zealand Test on December 12 forward to October 31 and if the Springboks do not join the tournament until a few weeks in, as could very well be the case, there will need to be further tweaks to the schedule.
Broadcasters will be be consulted in coming days.
"The SANZAAR member unions have agreed to provide South Africa Rugby with an additional 48 hours to finalise its internal stakeholder discussions," said a SANZAAR statement.
"This will now delay the scheduled departure of the Springboks from South Africa to Australia. SANZAAR will provide an update on the resolution of these discussions and a timetable for the Springboks participation in The Rugby Championship when available in the coming days."
Reports had suggested a Barbarians team or Australian A side could fill South Africa's spot but both options are understood to be on the backburner. A Barbarians side would be too difficult to bring together at short notice, while an Australia A team has little appetite from broadcasters.
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Tom Decent is a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald