Rassie Erasmus says a global season will “sort out a lot of problems” for South African rugby.
Momentum is finally building around long-running talks to align the international calendar, with World Rugby set to host key stakeholders in London in mid-February.
Central to the discussions is the possibility of shifting the Rugby Championship into the same window as the Six Nations, creating a single, synchronised Test season across both hemispheres.
Speaking at Springbok headquarters in Plattekloof, Erasmus said the fact that the game’s major role players are now engaging seriously is a positive step.
“There’s real talk about it,” Erasmus said. “It wasn’t me who thought: ‘This is a great plan’. Just, when you’re in meetings and you start looking at calendars and you think what can work and what can’t work.
“Some people voiced it out publicly, then some people took the route to get it done. It looks like everybody’s taking it seriously now.”
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The Springbok coach believes players would be the biggest beneficiaries of a unified global season, particularly for South African teams juggling northern hemisphere club rugby with international commitments.
“I think it will sort out a lot of problems for us,” Erasmus said. “Player welfare, players resting and managing the number of games a player can play, and rules of competitions.
“Getting it synced will make all those kinds of things easier to implement and to adapt to.”
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Previous attempts to align calendars between Sanzaar nations and their northern counterparts have stalled, but Erasmus senses a shift in approach.
“They are putting questionnaires out, high-performance committees are really looking at it seriously,” he said. “I am not sure when it will start, but it will be awesome.”
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