SA Rugby has announced its plans to reignite a four-month local season that will kick off on 26 September with a double-header at Loftus.

As reported by SARugbymag.co.za on Tuesday, local action will resume on 26 September when the Vodacom Bulls take on the Sharks, and the Lions battle the Stormers on ‘Vodacom Super Fan Saturday’.

This will be followed by what is being called the ‘Springbok Showdown’, which will pit the best local stars and top, up-and-coming talent against each other on 3 October.

Springbok assistant coaches Mzwandile Stick and Deon Davids will coach ‘Springbok Green versus Gold’ teams for the match at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, 3 October, with Rassie Erasmus (director of rugby) and Jacques Nienaber (Springbok coach) acting as the two team commissioners.

The selection process will take the form of a draft pick from an enlarged squad of 60 players with Green and Gold team bosses taking alternate turns in an old-style ‘school-yard pick’ to assemble their match-day squads of 25 players each.

The drama will unfold live on SuperSport, with the enlarged squad set to be announced live on Saturday before the crucial draft pick next week.

After these two rounds of ‘pre-season’ action, a double-round local competition, between seven franchises, will kick off on the weekend of 10 October.

Details of the local competition – with each of the teams facing the others home and away and every side enjoying two byes during the competition – will be released in due course.

In what is another first for South African rugby, the local competition will continue over Christmas and New Year and culminate in semi-finals (16 January) and a final on 23 January next year.

As expected, spectators won’t be allowed inside the stadiums due to Covid-19 regulations.

Competition formats and all the fixtures will be confirmed shortly.

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