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Extra Test a burden for South Africa

South Africa's rugby chief Oregan Hoskins concedes that playing Wales at the start of the southern hemisphere international season later this year is 'not in their best interest' as it expands on an already exhausted calendar.

Tuesday, 02 March 2010

Sportal.co.nz

South Africa's rugby chief Oregan Hoskins concedes that playing Wales at the start of the southern hemisphere international season later this year is 'not in their best interest' as it expands on an already exhausted calendar.

The Springboks are due to announce the fixture at the Millennium Stadium on June 5 in the coming days, with the game, which will mark the 10th anniversary to the opening of the Cardiff venue, taking their total Tests for the year to 14.

The announcement is certain to face heavy criticism, much more than the South African Rugby Union (SARU) received when it announced the three home games against France and Italy, as the world champion seeks to offload some of the heavy work ahead of its title defence next season.

But Hoskins says the organisation had no choice after it was 'begged' by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to play the game.

"We acknowledge that the clash is untimely given the tough Bok schedule in the build-up to the World Cup," the SARU president told Business Day. "But the Welsh Rugby Union begged us in honour of the Test 10 years ago in which the Boks opened up the Millennium Stadium.

"It means a lot to them and we didn't want to let them down, even though we admit it is not in our best interests.

"They also mentioned the possibility of royalty being present, which shows how significant the occasion is for them."

Hoskins also revealed that SARU cannot be blamed as the decision was taken on the basis that the French Test on June 12 would be played in France.

This was due to the clash with the football World Cup, but a compromise has now been reached with FIFA allowing the game to take place in Cape Town.

He continued: "When discussions about the matter started we were expecting to play the following Test in France.

"So the Test made sense. Only two weeks ago Danny Jordaan [the local World Cup CEO] gave us the go- ahead to play the French Test in Cape Town."

Hoskins did not shy away from the fact that the game with Wales could cause plenty of problems for coach Peter de Villiers - one major one is the completion of the Super 14 competition a week earlier.

It means that several players may be exhausted and Hoskins said: "The decision on whether we will select an expanded Bok squad for the midyear Tests ultimately lies with Peter.

"We have formed a big national squad over the years if one considers the past Tri Nations squads, the squad selected for last year's year-end tour and the Bok players based in Europe. So we will have to look at our resources and work something out."

Reports in the country on Monday also indicated that the coach was unhappy with the news and even more displeased that the media had heard the story before him.

But Hoskins added: "We haven't had a chance to sit down with Peter and discuss it, because it was unfortunately leaked before we had a chance."

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