Super Rugby has not received a great prognosis from Jamie Roberts.
The Stormers centre revealed that he can’t see the tournament playing out its full course this season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 33-year-old Welshman is a medical doctor, who practises when he is not making tackles on the pitch.
And with the Sanzaar looking at ways to get the players back in action as soon as possible after suspending action this week, the Wales and British and Irish Lions ace reckons it’s a long shot at that goal.
He tells the Daily Mail: “There are still huge question marks over whether Super Rugby will get finished.
STAYING PUT: Stormers star, Jamie Roberts. Picture: Phando Jikelo/ANA.
“I think it’s unrealistic to envisage us playing for another three or four weeks and by that time you are into mid-April.
“The tournament was meant to finish in the middle weekend of June. I can’t see them fulfilling all their fixtures.”
Despite admitting that he thought of fleeing back to Cardiff, with South Africa’s confirmed Covid-19 cases going past 100 on Wednesday, he is concerned by the devastation the disease could visit on the nation, especially on the less privileged.
He says: “The main worry in South Africa is the quality of the healthcare system and people’s access to it.
“I’ve only been here a few months.
“You just hope something as fast spreading as coronavirus doesn’t get into the townships.
Coronavirus: Wales centre Jamie Roberts to remain in South Africa https://t.co/2o0Z1w9inn pic.twitter.com/rcZBo5MQND
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“I was thinking of nipping back to Wales in April, but I can’t do that now because I wouldn’t be allowed back into South Africa.”