Publications
Partners
Cape Town - SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos has denied reports that the Springboks could possibly leave the Rugby Championship to join the Six Nations.
Register your interest for the British & Irish Lions tickets in South Africa 2021
This comes after a report in the Daily Mail earlier this month suggested that negotiations between SA Rugby and Six Nations tournament were underway and that a move could happen following the completion of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Speaking at a business breakfast in Sydney on Wednesday, though, Marinos squashed the reports by revealing that SA Rugby had given SANZAAR and Super Rugby a commitment until at least the end of 2025 when the current broadcast deal comes to an end.
He also found it highly unlikely that the Six Nations would be looking to expand further.
"I think you’ve got to take a step back and just realise where we are in the world rugby political landscape right now," said Marinos.
"There’s elections coming up in May, there’s a whole lot of positioning and jostling going on. There’s going to be a couple of outrageous statements that have been thrown across the bow.
"Having played in and administered in the UK for a number of years, the likelihood of Six Nations opening up their borders anymore; they’ve learned a hard lesson, they went from five to six with Italy. I've just put a bit of a reality check with that.
"The second thing that I think is really important for stakeholders both in Africa and Sydney and the rest of SANZAAR is our South African directors have been pretty clear with us.
"It’s nothing more than media speculation and I think someone’s just trying to stoke a little bit of fire."
