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Confusion surrounds Rugby Championship following reports of Springboks desertion

(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Plans to run a makeshift Rugby Championship this year may have been thrown into disarray following reports South Africa are set to play in the north instead.

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The world champion Springboks, who were also the 2019 Rugby Championship winners, are likely to join the new eight-team northern hemisphere tournament at the end of this year, according to French media.

Japan have pulled out because of Covid-19 travel restrictions, and World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte told Le Progress in France there are “advanced discussions” with South Africa.

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Ross Karl is joined by Josh Ioane of the Highlanders and James Parsons of the Blues as they touch on why it’s important to run for the bus after a meeting when you’re in the All Blacks.

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Ross Karl is joined by Josh Ioane of the Highlanders and James Parsons of the Blues as they touch on why it’s important to run for the bus after a meeting when you’re in the All Blacks.

“The Japanese will not come to Europe….we are looking for a nation to replace them. We are in advanced talks with South Africa. It would be great to be able to face the Springboks, world champions in the title, but it’s not yet done,” Laporte said.

This is at odds with a report last week, quoting Sanzaar CEO Andy Marinos, that New Zealand was still set to host the Rugby Championship in November and December, with West Australia a back-up option.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEaqW_XAfMJ/

There are lingering concerns about New Zealand’s ability to host the Rugby Championship – a tournament which has been dominated by the All Blacks – because of the virus outbreak in Auckland.

But Marinos told Stuff: “I feel as if we’re close…my philosophy is you’ve got to control the controllables, and make sure we’re doing everything we can so that when the green light is given we can turn things on.”

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There is general confusion over rugby’s schedule with various conflicting reports coming out.

The eight-team tournament will involve England, Wales, Ireland and Fiji in one pool, and Scotland, Italy and France confirmed for the other.

Georgia was originally considered as a replacement for Japan, but that may have changed.

Adding to the confusion, the BBC quoted a South Africa Rugby spokesperson who said they had “no knowledge of such an arrangement being planned”.

Marinos said last week that New Zealand was opposed to shifting the Rugby Championship to March/April, to align with the Six Nations, but Australia was more open to it. This year’s hastily arranged RC will run from November 7 to December 12.

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The eight-team tournament replaces the usual autumn schedule for the northern teams, and will start on November 15 which is a fortnight after the Six Nations ends. The final is at Twickenham on December 6.

It is also reported that England players have agreed to a 25 per cent pay cut for the matches, a drop of about $12,000 per game.

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Tom 6 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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