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Report: PRO14 teams included as new South Africa comp given start date

The Stormers . (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

South Africa Rugby has reportedly formulated a radically modified schedule to save the season following suspension due to the COVID-19.

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While a few countries like Italy and Scotland have scrapped the 2019/20 season, SA Rugby bosses have relentlessly been conducting plans to save the sport for the rest of the year.

According to the South African newspaper Rapport, the governing body presented a radically changed calendar for the 2020 season via video meetings with the MyPlayers organisation last week.

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The report added that SA Rugby identified June 5 as the date for a return to play, if the South African government allows sports to continue.

KEY FEATURES

  • A two-month-long tournament featuring South Africa’s four Super Rugby teams (Sharks, Stormers, Bulls and Lions) and two PRO14 outfits (Cheetahs and Southern Kings) is scheduled to start on June 5
  • The Rugby Championship will be played in August and September, with the Provincial Rugby Challenge and Currie Cup also starting during this period.
  • The Springboks’ two Tests against Scotland, initially scheduled for July 4 and 11, will take place in October, with the July 18 Test against Georgia scrapped.
  • The Springboks’ year-end European tour – where they are due to face Italy (November 7), Ireland (November 17), France (November 21) and Wales (November 28) – will go ahead.

The proposed schedule means that Super Rugby will not be completed, with South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina all likely to contest their own domestic competitions.

However, if rugby cannot resume, the report added that SA Rugby is facing a predicted financial loss of around R200-million.

“We have workshopped a number of scenarios based on potential return-to-play dates and identified the most likely financial scenario based on rugby resuming in the third quarter of 2020,” said Jurie Roux, the CEO of SA Rugby last week.

“The industry came together virtually on day one of this crisis to frame a united response.

“This is not an SA Rugby problem or a unions’ problem, it is everyone’s problem and we are very clear that we have to stand together if we are to overcome it.”

Source: Netwerk24 & Rapport

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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