The Rainbow Cup has not been cancelled, and South Africa is exploring every possible option to make the tournament happen.
That was the official word from SA Rugby president Mark Alexander on Monday following reports that the event was set to be called off due to the fact that the local teams wouldn’t be able to operate out of a bio-bubble in the UK.
Weekend online and newspaper reports stated that the SA teams were instructed not to apply for UK visas just yet as the British government had not given the necessary clearances for the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions to be based in a bio-bubble in Bristol.
The South Africans are due to start their part of the tournament with derby matches from April 24 onwards, with three consecutive weekends of overseas matches scheduled from May 29 to June 12, with the final set for June 19.
Now all of that is in doubt, but Alexander tells Independent Media that his organisation is doing all it can to ensure the Rainbow Cup is played.
He says: “No one has cancelled the Rainbow Cup. We are looking at every possible scenario to stage the SA teams’ overseas matches.
“We are in negotiations with all authorities, locally and in the UK, to have the games take place as scheduled. We are fighting hard for the Rainbow Cup to go ahead.
“But at the moment, the decision is really outside rugby’s ambit. It is at government level, as there is currently a travel ban on South Africans entering the UK. They have said they are monitoring the situation here.”