The SANZAAR Executive Committee (Exco) has confirmed that the SANZAAR joint venture partners (Rugby Australia [RA], New Zealand Rugby [NZR], South Africa Rugby [SAR] and Union Argentina Rugby [UAR]) have all committed to the organisation through to the end of the current broadcasting cycle in 2025.
The partners are committed to ensuring rugby in the southern hemisphere remains vibrant and competitive to ensure continued success at the top level of the game including the Rugby World Cup. All four nations currently sit in the Top 10 of World Rugby’s international rankings.
Despite the lingering effects of the pandemic, it is planned that The Rugby Championship 2022 will be played in its entirety with a return to matches being played in all four countries. Due to the pandemic, the match schedule over the last two years has been severely affected with no matches played in Argentina and only a handful of matches taking place in South Africa and New Zealand. The full 2022 match schedule will be announced in due course.
SANZAAR Chairman Marcelo Rodriguez stated, “The pandemic has created a very unusual sporting environment over the last two years with match and commercial delivery severely affected. This has seen the member unions work very hard to keep rugby alive and present during COVID and at times this has not been easy.”
“Indeed there has been much speculation about the future but it is now great that all members have committed through until the end of 2025 as a minimum. This means we can concentrate on ensuring The Rugby Championship remains as one of the best rugby tournaments on the world calendar,“ added Rodriguez.