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Cape Town - The assurance of having six teams in Super Rugby from 2016 may not be enough to stop South Africa from turning its back on the Southern Hemisphere competition.
SANZAR CEO Greg Peters on Tuesday gave SA Rugby Union (SARU) boss Jurie Roux his assurance that South Africa will have six Super Rugby teams from 2016.
"We are very keen on making sure that we retain Super Rugby as the Southern Hemisphere's pre-eminent international provincial rugby competition," said Peters.
"By doing that it has to be one competition. We have yet to determine the structure beneath that and the number of conferences involved but what I can assure you of though is that there will be six teams from South Africa."
SARU wanted the Super Rugby competition expanded to 16 teams to accommodate all six SA franchises, including the Kings - who played in this year's event at the expense of the Lions.
However, despite SARU's wish being granted, a report on the front page of Wednesday's Die Burger newspaper states that South Africa may yet decide to turn its back on Super Rugby.
The opportunity of forming a competition with French and English teams is reportedly better from a financial point of view due to the favourable time zones for broadcasters in South Africa and Europe.
The current broadcast rights deal for both hemispheres expires at the end of 2015, and South Africa's revenue could increase if they join a European competition, the report stated.
SANZAR CEO Greg Peters on Tuesday gave SA Rugby Union (SARU) boss Jurie Roux his assurance that South Africa will have six Super Rugby teams from 2016.
"We are very keen on making sure that we retain Super Rugby as the Southern Hemisphere's pre-eminent international provincial rugby competition," said Peters.
"By doing that it has to be one competition. We have yet to determine the structure beneath that and the number of conferences involved but what I can assure you of though is that there will be six teams from South Africa."
SARU wanted the Super Rugby competition expanded to 16 teams to accommodate all six SA franchises, including the Kings - who played in this year's event at the expense of the Lions.
However, despite SARU's wish being granted, a report on the front page of Wednesday's Die Burger newspaper states that South Africa may yet decide to turn its back on Super Rugby.
The opportunity of forming a competition with French and English teams is reportedly better from a financial point of view due to the favourable time zones for broadcasters in South Africa and Europe.
The current broadcast rights deal for both hemispheres expires at the end of 2015, and South Africa's revenue could increase if they join a European competition, the report stated.
