Family “tension” is one of several reasons SA Rugby and Rassie Erasmus decided not to appeal the sanctions handed down by World Rugby’s disciplinary committee.
The Vodacom United Rugby Championship announced on Friday that this weekend’s round six matches in South Africa and next weekend’s round seven matches have been postponed due to a new Covid-19 variant.
SA Rugby and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus have officially withdrawn the appeal against the ban handed down by World Rugby and apologised to referee Nic Berry.
The Springboks will finish the year with a nearly two-point lead over the second-placed All Blacks in the World Rugby rankings.
SA Rugby’s preliminary fixture list for 2022 has the Springboks down for four fixtures against Wales, while the SA ‘A’ team is also scheduled for two fixtures next year.
The Springboks need to lose their underdog mentality, writes Simnikiwe Xabanisa.
Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel has insisted there are no plans to add South Africa to the tournament, as the Springboks remain committed to the Rugby Championship.
World Rugby has reportedly conceded that Rassie Erasmus was justified in the claims he made during a 62-minute video criticising referees during the 2021 British & Irish Lions series.
A double round of home matches is next on the menu for the South African teams participating in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and it is going to be interesting to see how they apply the lessons learned from the initial four-match tours that went off with mixed success.
Stormers head coach John Dobson says SA Rugby has told the team to focus solely on Friday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship match against Dragons after a turbulent period in Western Province’s history was brought to a head this week.