The much-anticipated Castle Rugby Championship match between South Africa and New Zealand at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday September 26 will not take place.
Come September it will be six years since the Springboks have defeated the All Blacks in South Africa. With the Rugby Championship planned to take place in New Zealand in November and early December, the world champions will have to wait another year to face New Zealand in South Africa.
This was expected after Sanzaar announced last Thursday in a media statement that it wanted to play the Rugby Championship in one location, the preferred option being New Zealand.
“Sanzaar is well advanced in option planning with New Zealand, which in turn is now awaiting its government’s approval,” the statement read.
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Lowvelders, and fans from the rest of the country were waiting for ticket for the match to go on sale. Then Covid-19 hit South Africa.
Fans realised, as the pandemic progressed, that the chances of the Mbombela match taking place were diminishing.
The SA Rugby CEO, Jurie Roux indicated during a virtual media conference on Tuesday that the Springboks would play no rugby in South Africa in 2020.
He confirmed that the most likely scenario is for the Rugby Championship to be played in New Zealand in November and early December.
“The only chance of international competition would be in the New Zealand bubble for the Rugby Championship. All other international matches for the Springboks are not in consideration any longer. We are not planning to host any international games in South Africa this year,” said Roux.
Mbombela Stadium manager, Roelf Kotze, was extremely disappointed that the Springbok versus All Blacks match was cancelled.
“Everyone was excited and ready for it. The fans were gearing themselves up for the ultimate game. But there is a bigger picture (due to the Covid-19 pandemic). We will concentrate and look forward to the British & Irish Lions match versus South Africa A on Wednesday July 14, 2021. Preparations are already under way,” said Kotze.
The outgoing CEO of the Mpumalanga Rugby Union, Pieter Burger said, “We are disappointed. It was to be a historical occasion. Everyone had worked so hard behind the scenes to secure the Test. It is sad for everyone.
“But rugby fans need to bear with us, we will secure Test matches again. We have shown that we can host these games and SA Rugby has shown that it will allocate them to us.
“It is a major blow, but there is (rugby) life after Covid-19. We look forward to the British & Irish Lions match in 2021 and will focus on the positives.”
SA Rugby will announce details and fixtures of the Rugby Championship once they have been finalised and approved by World Rugby.
