It’s hoped that a one-off internal South African match could take place at the start of October as part of rugby’s resumption in the country.
SARugbymag.co.za understands that 3 October has been touted as a prospective date for South Africa’s version of what was recently seen in New Zealand when a North vs South match proved to be extremely popular.
The contest in New Zealand took place in early September and resulted in an extremely entertaining and competitive clash, while essentially serving as an All Blacks trial.
It’s expected that this could be a similarly rewarding once-off fixture in South Africa, where it’s hoped SA Rugby will soon receive the go-ahead to green light the start of a domestic competition.
It remains to be seen whether South Africa’s selections would be made along state of origin or coastal/inland lines, but there’s no doubt that this sort of clash would be welcomed by local players who have not featured in competitive action since mid-March.
As previously reported by SARugbymag.co.za, it’s hoped that 10 October will successfully remain the relaunch date for local action.
According to City Press – in a report that also confirmed talks of an internal South African battle – director of rugby Rassie Erasmus held a virtual meeting with domestic coaches this past week to outline some of the plans.
There remains some speculation around exactly how a domestic competition will be structured, with talk remaining that there may need to be a version of both Vodacom Super Rugby and a new-look Currie Cup taking place simultaneously.
Such details will hopefully be confirmed within the next week pending government approval for SA Rugby to proceed with a local tournament after players recently returned to contact training.
There is also potential for a Super Heroes Day between the Super Rugby sides to precede competition kick-off.
