World champions South Africa will continue to be part of the Rugby Championship alongside New Zealand, Australia and Argentina; there was speculation they would join the Six Nations competition; the 2022 Rugby Championship schedule is aiming to have home fixtures for all nations
Wednesday 16 February 2022 09:27, UK
South Africa will continue to play in the Rugby Championship until 2025, the organiser SANZAAR has announced.
The move ends speculation the Springboks were planning to leave the southern hemisphere championship, which also features New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, and join the Six Nations set-up.
"The pandemic has created a very unusual sporting environment over the last two years, with match and commercial delivery severely affected," Marcelo Rodriguez, the SANZAAR chairman said.
"This has seen the member unions work very hard to keep rugby alive and present during Covid and at times this has not been easy.
"Indeed there has been much speculation about the future but it is now great that all members have committed through until the end of 2025, as a minimum.
"This means we can concentrate on ensuring The Rugby Championship remains as one of the best rugby tournaments on the world calendar."
The impact of the pandemic meant the majority of the 2021 Rugby Championship was played in Australia, and the competition was won by New Zealand. Ahead of the 2022 edition, SANZAAR remains confident the four nations will be able to host matches.
"Despite the lingering effects of the pandemic, it is planned that The Rugby Championship 2022 will be played in its entirety with a return to matches being played in all four countries," the organisation said in a statement.
"Due to the pandemic the match schedule over the last two years has been severely affected with no matches played in Argentina and only a handful of matches taking place in South Africa and New Zealand.
"The full 2022 match schedule will be announced in due course."
