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SARU working out ways to get rugby back on track

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The South African Rugby Union (SARU) says it is hard at work to get both international and domestic rugby back up and running, as soon as possible. 

Chief Executive of (SARU), Jurie Roux, has assured fans that reigning world champions, the Springboks, will still play the British and Irish Lions in 2021.

Apart from managing the health risks posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, sports bodies now also have to factor in the new logistical challenges left in its aftermath.

For SA Rugby, continuing with the Rugby Championship this year is in the best interests of all teams concerned, however, Roux says that whatever the revised format, it has to make commercial sense.

Roux says, “It’s all about commercials at the moment and those commercials are determined by logistical challenges and we have to come to something that is a good rugby result and a good commercial result and that can actually function in a post-COVID-19 world where flights are reduced, where business class tickets are reduced and the time it will take around isolation and quarantine.”

One of the options that world sports bodies are looking to adopt is playing in a bio-bubble, where whole teams and support staff are isolated within the venue –  the same way England’s Cricket Board is planning on hosting the West Indies, in a three-match Test series next month.

Organisers of the Rugby Championship are also exploring the idea, but the deal-breaker for South Africa would be whether their squad would be self-isolated or quarantined.

Roux says, “Being in quarantine means we’ve got to be quarantined for two weeks in a hotel room in South Africa, where somebody feeds you three meals a day in front of your door. Then you get to Perth and you have to do exactly the same. That’s a month without any training.”

“From that point onwards, you need another six weeks to get ready to play Australia, New Zealand and Argentina in a six-match series. That’s insane. Isolation is something different: you’re in a team bubble where you live, train and eat together. Then you are able to get ready to go into that competition. Those two scenarios will have a material effect,” added Roux.

This year’s international fixtures are still on the table. The in-bound tour by Scotland, originally planned for July, will likely be rescheduled to October with both unions sharing the spoils.

Roux reassured fans that the all-exciting British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, which only happens on home soil every 12 years, will go ahead next year.

He says, “The commercial model that we put up is a joint venture between us and the British and Irish Lions, we have thrown away the textbook. It is a completely different model. It’s a sharing of revenue, a sharing of logos, a sharing of IP and commercial value and something in a post-COVID-19 world will help us to generate revenue and help us to operate going forward.”

SARU is still in negotiations with the government as to when their players can safely resume training, and are looking at as early as next month, with a return to full contact training in August.

And while no final decisions on the international competitions have been made either, the governing body is covering all their bases with back-up plans for domestic tournaments should teams not be able to travel.

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