The South African Rugby Union (Saru) is willing to postpone next year’s British and Irish Lions tour to our shores, if it means a global
calendar can be approved for 2021.
As it stands, the July visit of the Lions is standing in the way of world unity, according to Saru CEO Jurie Roux.
He explains: “The Lions [tour date] is still fixed, [but] there is a slight chance, to align with the global calendar, that it might move to either
September/ October or October/ November.
“That’s the only hurdle for getting the global calendar across the line and we don’t want to be that hindrance, we want to help.”
Big changes are expected to get the two hemispheres on the same page, with the northern hemisphere basically “moving from winter to summer rugby”.
Roux and rugby’s other grootkoppe have a
meeting next week and will give more clarity on the changes at the start of next month.
PLANS: Saru's Jurie Roux
One of the things they are considering is an annual world league. With plans to play the Rugby Championship and the Six Nations in the same window, inbound tours will be scrapped.
Roux explains: “[International rugby] will have a different look and feel.
“Basically, you could have England, Italy and Wales coming to us in October and then we all get on a plane and head back north where we will play Ireland, Scotland and France.
“It will have the form of an international series. After that, the two best teams will possibly play in a final at Twickenham.”
With the Rugby Championship possibly moving from the end of the year to the beginning, Super Rugby might also get a new window.