Photo / PhotosportSA Rugby have revealed why they withdrew the Springboks from the Rugby Championship, saying taking part would have threatened to "seriously jeopardise player welfare". Former Springboks coach and now Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus said that his department had planned for every scenario. The Japanese based players haven't played any rugby at all, while the home-based players would be well short of 400 minutes by the time of kick-off." Photo / PhotosportSA-based players played their first competitive matches at the weekend, 29 weeks after their last competitive match in Vodacom Super Rugby. In contrast, New Zealand's and Australia's players contested a test match on Saturday, 17 weeks and 14 weeks respectively after they resumed competitive rugby.

Source: New Zealand Herald October 16, 2020 04:52 UTC