Why can’t the Boks play in the Six Nations as well as the Rugby Championship?

In all the speculation that has done the rounds about the Springboks’ prospects since rumours of them possibly playing in the Six Nations in 2024, nobody has floated the idea of Jacques Nienaber’s men campaigning in both competitions.

Over the past week, talk has been about the New Zealanders, South Africa’s main Sanzaar partners, alternating between saying they need the Springboks to stay in the Rugby Championship and calling their mooted departure good riddance, and the northern hemisphere teams tut-tutting about not needing a southern hemisphere team soiling the Six Nations’ traditions.

But with the Six Nations starting this month and concluding next month, and the Rugby Championship traditionally taking place between late August and early October, it’s conceivable that the Boks could play in both competitions.

With the global season as dysfunctional as it is, one doesn’t need to be eagle-eyed to point out that February is the beginning of the South African and the Super Rugby seasons, so it could be tough to put together a well-prepared Bok team for that time of year.

But, with SA Rugby’s new contracting system having pushed even more Springboks to campaign in Europe and there being no restrictions on how many of them can play for the Bok team, Nienaber could conceivably play a team loaded with those players and only a few who are still based in South Africa.

The obvious thinking there is they would be in the middle of the season like the rest of the players playing in the Six Nations, and SA Rugby wouldn’t be in breach of its Sanzaar contract by not being able to field its strongest available teams in Super Rugby.

And when the Rugby Championship rolls around in August, a team made up mostly of local-based players would campaign in that competition. Of course, all of the above is mere conjecture for a number of reasons.

The first is that, for South Africa to successfully double-dip between the two hemispheres, contracts seemingly set in stone to allow it would be required.

I have my doubts about the Springboks being allowed to feature in both those competitions because, if it was that easy, it would have happened years ago, what with New Zealand having been in demand in the game for as long as we can remember.

The second reason is that, with the clamour to accommodate teams such as Japan and Fiji in first-tier tournaments such as the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship, it would make little sense to have one country play in both.

Maybe the most important reason this is all mere speculation is that, for those discussions to take place, it would have to be fact – as opposed to rumours – that the Springboks are set to join the Six Nations in 2024, as alleged by the recent reports.

SA Rugby (well, our sources there, anyway) have been uncharacteristically tight-lipped about its equity partnership talks with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, so only the outcome of those negotiations would drop hints about what their next move will be.

The fact that CVC Capital Partners, which is said to be looking for a 20% stake in SA Rugby, has similar shares in the Six Nations, English Premiership Rugby and Pro14 makes it plausible that it would want its partners playing in one of its competitions.

However, for any of this to happen, we have to see what exactly SA Rugby says come April, which is when it is expected to announce details of the deal.

Be that as it may, don’t be surprised if it is keen to stay in the Rugby Championship and also sample the Six Nations.

.Follow me on Twitter @simxabanisa

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