
Share
23rd December 2020
01:39pm GMT

Siya Kolisi, Pieter Steph du Toit (both DHL Stormers), Duane Vermeulen (Vodacom Bulls), Elton Jantjies (Emirates Lions) and Makazole Mapimipi (Cell C Sharks).[caption id="attachment_217178" align="aligncenter" width="628"]
Springboks back-row Duane Vermeulen is with the Vodacom Bulls. (Credit: Bulls)[/caption]
'Ahead of the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa,' a PRO14 Rugby release reads, 'the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will provide a ground-breaking spectacle for fans who will see international star players from north and south establish new rivalries in their bid for the ultimate Test selection.'
Martin Anayi, chief executive of PRO14 Rugby, says that by wrapping up the 2020/21 league season in late May, it will provide clarity to the European sides of their qualification for the 2021/22 Challenge and Champions Cup competitions.
South Africa have not played a Test match since winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Their franchises were excluded from the Super Rugby shake-up caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, although they were already leaning towards the PRO14 option. Jurie Roux, chief executive of SA Rugby, says:
"The inclusion of South Africa’s ‘Super’ Teams in the Rainbow Cup is a once-in-a-generation, watershed moment for South African rugby. After so much turmoil and uncertainty in 2020, the prospect of a return to top-flight international domestic competition is one to which we all can all look forward with real excitement."One hopes, now, that the pandemic that caused so much disruption and heartache in 2020 will have subsided and been effectively tackled with vaccines by Spring 2021. If so, we can all look forward with some degree of confidence towards the Rainbow Cup and the Lions Tour to South Africa.
Explore more on these topics: