Ex-Bok captain wary of SA's participation in Rugby Championship

Ex-Springbok captain Wynand Claassen has weighed in with concerns surrounding the Springboks’ participation in this year’s Rugby Championship.

The competition is scheduled to take place in Australia over the summer months of November and December.

The New Zeland Super Rugby players have already completed a full 10 weeks of internal competition while their counterparts in Australia are soon to wrap up their own tournament. South Africa, however, has remained in a rugby doldrum and, while players have been back at training for several weeks, no formal domestic competition has yet commenced.

In an interview with The Citizen, Claasen said:

“I honestly believe they should not play in the Championship; it simply doesn’t make any sense to me.

“If one thinks that New Zealand and Australia have been playing their domestic rugby for the last two months and our rugby hasn’t even restarted yet, we would definitely be under-prepared.

“What will happen if we again give 50 points away to New Zealand, like what happened in 2016 and 2017; who will be blamed?

“We’ve got more to lose by playing in the Championship. We must remember that we are the World Cup champs, the No.1 ranked team in the world and the Rugby Championship holders.

“One has to understand that because of Covid-19 we haven’t been able to restart our local game but it is what it is and we just have to move on and forget about the Rugby Championship for this year.

“SA Rugby must just take a stand and decide what is in the best interests of the Boks and their legacy. Yes, money talks, but it’s not all about money; there are many more factors at play.”

Claassen was a popular figure in his playing days, winning 7 caps for the Springboks – all as captain.