The talk won’t die. It lingers like a bad smell, or a promise too good to be true: the Springboks in the Six Nations. It’s been whispered, debated, and denied. But the idea of South Africa, the reigning world champions, battling Europe’s elite annually, keeps resurfacing. No official decision is pending, not really, but the conversation persists. And in rugby, as in life, money talks. Everything else is just noise.

The Pitch: Cash and Clashes

For South Africa, the logic is as clear as a winter morning in the Karoo. The current Rugby Championship, shared with New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina, means “excessive travel” and “difficulty managing vastly separated time zones”. Games kick off at ungodly hours for their home fans, sometimes 3 AM, over a bowl of cornflakes. Joining the Northern Hemisphere calendar would align time zones, making viewership easier.

Then there’s the cold, hard cash. Rugby is expensive, a 600-pound gorilla that needs constant feeding. South African TV money is an interesting prospect, a revised championship with a world’s most compelling rugby nation involved? That means Hello, Netflix. Hello, Amazon. Sir Ian McGeechan, a rugby legend, calls it “financially… in the interests of everyone”. South African Rugby (SARU) has already sunk significant capital into Northern Hemisphere club competitions like the United Rugby Championship (URC) and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), absorbing a R93m group loss in 2024 to become full members. They expect to “reap the on and off field rewards” and forecast revenues exceeding R2bn for 2025. This investment is a stark indicator of where they see their future.

From a purely sporting perspective, the allure is also undeniable. Six Nations teams would get more top-class international fixtures against top-quality Southern Hemisphere opposition. It would expose European nations to a completely different brand of rugby, offering invaluable experience and developmental opportunities. McGeechan believes it would “rais[e] standards for England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Italy”. It could also be a step towards a unified global calendar, bridging the hemispheres. And if the Springboks left the Rugby Championship, it would open slots for emerging nations like Japan and the Pacific Islands. A win-win, on paper.

The Resistance: Tradition and Turmoil

But paper plans rarely survive contact with reality. Rassie Erasmus, the Springboks’ director of rugby, poured cold water on the idea, stating the “northern hemisphere isn’t ready – and maybe never will be”. He admired the Six Nations but questioned if they could “just walk in and be accepted,” citing “a lot of traditions that are more valuable than us just fitting in”. He doesn’t think SA joining is a “good idea”.

Many agree. The Six Nations is cherished for its deep heritage, its unique geography and the rivalry that partly caused by that. It’s a European competition, where fans can grab a flight after work on Friday, spend a nice weekend in Rome, Paris, Dublin etc. and get a flight back Sunday evening. A trip to South Africa for a weekend fixture is a different beast entirely, both in cost and time. It wouldn’t be a true Six Nations occasion. Adding the Springboks would devalue the competition.

Then there’s the existing burden. The rugby calendar is already crowded. Players are being asked to play too many Tests, the goose that lays the golden egg hasn’t been killed, but the poor thing is under threat. The new global league, set to begin in 2026, already proposes shortening the Six Nations to six weeks, with only one rest weekend. Adding a seventh team would mean more games, more strain.

And what of the Southern Hemisphere? South Africa’s departure would cut Oceania adrift, leaving the Rugby Championship a shell of what it once was and damaging traditional rivalries with New Zealand and Australia. Argentina, whose development has benefited from the competition, would also feel the impact. SANZAAR and Six Nations Rugby are already working on a new international competition starting in 2026, which will feature the four Rugby Championship teams and the Six Nations sides, with two invitational unions. This structure, along with the ringfenced nature of the Six Nations championship under the new global league blueprint, ends any hope of South Africa joining the European competition permanently.

Official resistance is firm. Six Nations organizers have denied the possibility. They stated they are not currently planning to admit South Africa, and are not entertaining any discussion nor developing any plans to add or replace any participating union. Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, with significant stakes in rugby, reportedly weren’t keen to push things forward on a potential switch for the Springboks. The Springboks themselves are committed to southern hemisphere until 2025.

The road ahead is clear. The Six Nations remains a closed shop, its traditions and format protected. The Springboks, despite their Northern Hemisphere club ties and financial incentives, remain anchored in the south, at least for now. The dreams of a “Seven Nations” are just that – dreams. The game moves on, but some lines are not meant to be crossed. Not yet, anyway.