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SA Rugby bid to stop overseas exodus with new ruling

South Africa head coach Allister Coetzee

SA Rugby has attempted to halt the overseas exodus by ruling that only internationals with a minimum of 30 caps will be be able to play abroad and represent the Springboks.

Concerns over the number of players plying their trade outside of their homeland have long since been expressed.

The governing body on Friday announced a new measure which will be implemented after the three-match series in France in June, but players with any number of caps will be available for selection during a World Cup year.

“We are sending a message to young players that if they wish to play for the Springboks, then they must remain in South Africa,” said SA Rugby president Mark Alexander.

“But we have also retained flexibility for the coach to select exceptional players who may be based overseas provided they have a proven track record of 30 Tests for the Springboks.

“How to balance the need to select the strongest possible team against the challenges of having such a large number of players based overseas has been a subject of long debate in our game.

“We have made this change in what we believe are the best interests of the Springbok team but we will review it periodically in conjunction with the national coach.”

Such measures are becoming increasingly commonplace in world rugby, with Australia, England, Wales and New Zealand all limiting selection of foreign-based players.

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Nickers 19 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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