Sharks chief executive Ed Coetzee is confident South Africa will join Six Nations in future

Sharks chief executive Ed Coetzee is confident that South Africa will be part of the Six Nations tournament in future.

SANZAAR last year revealed that the Springboks have committed their participation in the Rugby Championship until 2030 but the pandemic coronavirus constraint has opened up a number of possibilities for South Africa with their clubs already heading to Europe next season to be participate in the United Rugby Championship joining teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy.

"I think it will definitely happen,” Coetzee said.

“I think if we asked them now, they would say never. But if we also asked them if we would play in Europe, they would have said never.

“So I think it is a natural progression – it’s bound to happen."

Coetzee also suggested about a promotion-relegation system to Six Nations with teams like Georgia pressing a case to compete in the top tier.

“I think there might be a promotion and relegation. I think Georgia are also pushing hard and Italy haven’t been great.

“You have the likes of private-equity guys, CVC, coming into rugby and they are not coming in to lose money. They want commercially sound, scalable competitions – it just makes sense."