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Bloemfontein - The proposed changes to the Vodacom Super Rugby competition will benefit South African teams in the long-run, Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské believes.
The supersport.com website reports that governing body SANZAR confirmed last week the 15-team competition would now move to an 18-team, four conference model in 2016 which would see South Africa get a sixth franchise, and teams travel less.
And Drotske, whose team has often been on the receiving end of nightmare draws in the competition, said while more South African derbies wasn’t necessarily a good thing, overall the changes were positive.
"It is a lot of South African derbies and SA derbies are like a war," Drotské said."But saying that the travel aspect is much better for South African teams.
"South African teams will have a much better chance of winning the competition.
"We will have more teams in the playoffs."
Drotské added that the current system, which sees teams travel for five weeks in Australia and New Zealand as opposed to two for the other countries, is a system that takes its toll on players.
"The travel at the moment is not an advantage for South African teams.
"If you look at it that way, less travel is a big plus for South Africa," he added.
SANZAR’s changes will also see for the first time a team from Argentina enter the competition as well as an unnamed 18th side which will go out to tender in the next few weeks.
