South Africa are reportedly set to replace Italy in the Six Nations following a £365million shake up by new tournament investors.
The Springboks are expected to join the competition in 2025, and make way for the Italians who have not won a Six Nations game since 2015, report the Daily Mail.
Despite a recent announcement confirming that South Africa are to join New Zealand, Australia and Argentina in a southern hemisphere annual championship, it seems they are more keen to join the Six Nations union.
The Springboks’ move into the competition is seemingly the nation’s next step into integrating into European rugby, with their provincial sides set to participate in Euro-based tournaments from next season.
The move could well bring to an end a long-standing debate about the format of the tournament, which stemmed from Italy’s lack of competitiveness.
Due to their recent struggles it had been proposed that there was a relegation system each year, which replaced the bottom-ranked team.
The move is reportedly being pushed by CVC, who bought a one seventh stake in the tournament for £365million, with the Springboks set to bring in ‘significant commercial gains’.
When CVC partnered with the Six Nations last year, they said: “The objective is to enhance the sporting spectacle of all the tournaments, teams and brands; and to build broader commercial capabilities to support these ambitious plans.
“These steps will ensure continued development for the benefit of fans, and to attract a new more diverse and global fan base.”
Would you like to see South Africa join the Six Nations? Let us know in the comments section below.
Speaking last Autumn, tournament chief executive Ben Morel revealed the Six Nations were ‘very cautious’ about any sort of switch up, but admit that it ‘could be improved’.
He commented: “The Six Nations have added to and reduced its teams very few times in its 140 years, so it's something we'd be very cautious about doing.
“We're pretty happy with what we have, but we're pretty sure it could be improved.”
The report from the Mail did reveal that some ‘powerful figures’ within European rugby were opposed to the idea of South Africa joining, however this could well be outweighed by the commercial gain they possess.
