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Cape Town -  The South African Rugby Union (Saru) have taken a decision to recognise the Protea as the national emblem and move the Springbok off the heart of the national rugby jersey.

Afrikaans newspaper Sondag reported that Saru took the decision at a President's Council meeting recently , but did not announce it as they wanted to communicate the decision in a discussion with Sports Minister Makhenkhesi Stofile.

Saru decided at the extraordinary meeting that they recognised the need for the King Protea to be on the World Champions' jerseys as the national emblem.

But the team will still be known as the Springboks and the Springbok emblem will be emblazoned on the right side of the jersey in future.
However, the organisation decided to request a meeting with Stofile to sort out logistical issues, the newspaper said, as the pending Sports Act stipulates that no emblem may be bigger than the national emblem on any sporting jersey.

Springbok issue

This would mean that the Protea would be bigger than the Springbok on the national rugby jersey. There was also uncertainty as to how this pertained to the sponsor's logos on the jersey, the newspaper added.

Saru President Oregan Hoskins confirmed the Springbok issue was discussed by the Presidents Council.

"We discussed the matter and we now need to have a discussion with the Sports Minister.

“We don’t want to make any announcements before we have talked to him.”

The old jersey may still be in play until after the British and Irish Lions tour, the newspaper added, as the orders for national jerseys are nine months in advance and any change would take that long to implement.