SA Rugby has confirmed the Springboks’ ability to participate in the Rugby Championship will be finalised early next week.

The team is due to defend its title in Australia between 7 November and 12 December, but several hurdles needed to be cleared if it is to be confirmed.

The South African government lifted the ban on international sporting participation a week ago and directions to manage such participation were published on Wednesday evening.

A spokesman said that SA Rugby was seeking further clarification from the Departments of Arts, Sports and Culture and of Transport as to how those regulations would impact on the planned participation.

A final decision was only likely to be finalised early next week once those clarifications had been assessed internally and with SA Rugby’s Sanzaar partners.

It’s likely to now come down to a decision around player welfare and management, with South Africa having only just returned to competitive action again.

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