SPRINGBOK coach Rassie Erasmus doesn’t see the world champions playing in Europe’s Six Nations anytime soon.
And that’s because he doesn’t think European teams would want South Africa playing in their international competition.
Already we have seen the French and English clubs getting their knickers in a knot because the SA teams are in the Champions Cup, which has been the pinnacle of European club competition since 1995 when it started life as the Heineken Cup.
On the question of whether he thinks SA will join the Six Nations, Erasmus says: “Us joining the Six Nations? I’m not sure how that sits with other people. We admire the competition and when I was [coaching] at Munster I realised how big it is.
“For me, having been there for 18 months, I’m not sure if the Six Nations and northern hemisphere would want us.
“There are a lot of traditions and they are more valuable than us just trying to fit in and thinking we can just join a competition that has a hell of a lot of heritage.”
As things stand, the Boks in any case have the best of both worlds. The leading provincial teams play in the European club competitions while the Springboks play in the Rugby Championship against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.
South African rugby has a foot in each hemisphere and this keeps the players abreast of rugby evolution in both the north and south.
Erasmus is busy preparing his Springboks for their first Test of the year against Italy in July.