South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus says it would be “awesome” to have the Springboks in the Six Nations.
When it was reported last month that the world champions were being lined up to replace Italy in the Championship from 2025 it provoked a huge reaction.
Italian rugby chiefs voiced their fury, while there was widespread public opposition to the idea.
In the end, the Six Nations were moved to come out with a statement saying they had no plans to add or replace any participating union.
Now Erasmus, one of rugby’s highest profile and most colourful characters, has given his personal opinion on the subject.
“I’ve always been a massive fan of the Six Nations,” he told Mail Online.
“Murrayfield is awesome, the Aviva is awesome, Twickenham is awesome. I love the atmospheres and their rich tradition of singing.
“Speaking from the South African side of the fence, I would love to see the Springboks in the Six Nations. The style of play, the travel and the time zones would all suit South Africa.
“You could fly in overnight on Thursday, play on a Saturday and fly back on Sunday. It would be easy. When we go to Australia or New Zealand, you wake up at 2am and don’t know what day it is!
“We are locked in with the Rugby Championship until 2025, so for now it is still hypothetical.
“Just please don’t mistake this for me saying the Rugby Championship is bad. I love New Zealand, I love Australia and I love Argentina.
“If someone with proper research showed me that South Africa joining the Six Nations would make the Rugby Championship weaker and damage the growth of the global game, then we shouldn’t do it. But right now, speaking as a South African, I think joining the Six Nations would be awesome.”
Win Wales v France tickets and watch Six Nations game for free:
You can also fill in the entry form and sign up to our newsletter here.
Much of the opposition to South Africa coming on board has surrounded the fact that the Six Nations has always been a European competition and should remain that way.
“Of course tradition is important, but I don’t think we can hang everything on that,” said Erasmus.
“Traditionally, the Six Nations was the Five Nations. Traditionally, the Rugby Championship was the Tri Nations.
“People say, “What about the Lions tour?” The Lions tour is unique; we can still do Lions tours. If the six countries say it would not benefit them then that’s cool, we carry on as we are.
“But if everything in life is dictated by tradition, we’d still be ploughing fields with horses. Nothing would ever change.
“I think you only screw up tradition if you make something worse. Will South Africa make the Six Nations worse? Well, we might have a relapse, go back to playing attractive running rugby and be sixth in the world.
“If we are number six or seven in the world it probably doesn’t benefit the Six Nations. Or we might keep playing boring rugby and stay at number one, two or three. Surely the more high-class teams you get in the competition the better.”
To get the latest rugby news and analysis, sign up for our Welsh rugby newsletter.
