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SARU held a meeting on Thursday to finalise the scheduling for the 2021 senior rugby season. During this meeting, it was decided that the "Franchise Cup" will go ahead as well as the Currie Cup First Division.
The fixtures of the Franchise Cup will only be scheduled after a final decision was taken regarding the Rainbow Cup. The Rainbow Cup is scheduled to take place from 17 April until 19 June 2021. with the Pro16 teams for the 2021/2022 season set to participate.
Should the Rainbow Cup take place, the eight teams will play in a two-division format. However, should the Rainbow Cup be cancelled due to COVID19 regulations the "Franchise Cup" will be played in a single round format
Eastern Province was included as the 8th team in the "Franchise Cup" setup. The Bulls, Cheetahs, Griquas, Lions, Pumas, Sharks and Western Province will be the other seven teams to participate. The "Franchise Cup" is set to start during the final weekend of February.
It was also confirmed that the Currie Cup First Division competition will definately take place. It will be played in a single round format between the seven First Division teams.
The teams are the Boland, Border, Eastern Province, Griffons, Leopards, SWD and Valke. The Jaguares who won the competition in 2019 will not compete in 2021.
The competition will start on 19 June 2021, with the semi-finals set to take place on 07 August 2021. The final will be played on the 14th of Augustus 2021.
The Unions will be allowed to start training on 24 April 2021. The first four weeks of training will be limited to non-contact training. Full-contact training will only be allowed after the first four weeks.