Chiefs v Toulon canned

Cape Town - Super Rugby champions, the Chiefs, on Friday ruled out a long-mooted friendly against Heineken Cup champions Toulon.

"Both parties put extensive work into playing the match, but were not able to get the required approvals from their national bodies," the Chiefs said in a statement.

"Other factors contributed to the decision not to proceed with the match, which included injury, unavailability of players and travel considerations."

Toulon president Mourad Boudjellal had this week again raised the possibility of his club playing the Chiefs at the start of February in France.

But Chiefs CEO Andrew Flexman said: "The Toulon match was always contingent on us being able to take a full strength squad, however due to our circumstances, this has changed, so now we will put our focus on our existing pre-season campaign and an important season ahead.

"We have not ruled out playing matches off-shore in the future."