The global Covid-19 pandemic has been the cause of a lot of uncertainty in the sport worldwide and this ranges from the international rugby calendar to Super Rugby, to PRO Rugby

If the South Africa teams are withdrawn from the Super Rugby, the four franchises may head north at the expense of the Cheetahs and Southern Kings.

Managing Director of the Free State Cheetahs, Harold Verster, told OFM Sport they have actively been engaging with the various role-players.

“The Cheetahs never say die. We fight back every time that there is a challenge we have created teams to work through it and make a success of it.

“We’ve been in and out of Super Rugby, Top10 Rugby, and with all of those different challenges that we have experienced in the past, and we have also learned from it.

“We are under severe pressure at the moment due to the current Covid-19 pandemic and all the talk that we might be out of PRO Rugby again.

“All of these things are uncertain. It’s very uncertain times and nobody knows what is going to happen.

“Even the international World Rugby calendar has not been finalised because France is not happy with what they have suggested.

“If they cannot sort out the rugby calendar now, but I think they will soon, but once they’ve done that, then they can look at the Super Rugby, PRO Rugby, Currie Cup rugby, etc.

“We’ve been in contact with SA Rugby, and we’ve got a team with our chairman Ryno Opperman, our president Jerry Segwaba and myself taking care of things, and we are quite confident at this stage that there will be a good result for the Cheetahs going forward.

“We might not see any PRO Rugby or Super Rugby in the next couple of months or even next year, but after that, I think there will be a good competition structure where the Cheetahs will feature.

“After all of our discussions and meetings and the way we have approached this we are confident that there will be something special for our supporters.

The Cheetahs have a deal to play in the PRO14 until at least May 2020.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport