Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says playing against Portugal is more important for the growth of the global game as a whole, than playing against Ireland in a three-match Incoming Series.
World Rugby made some big changers to the global calendar this season, which included turning the Incoming Series from a three-match series between two tier one (top ranked) nations, to a two-game series so that the third match could be played against a tier two nation.
Thus the Boks v Ireland , All Blacks v England, Australia v Wales and Argentina v France are all two-Test series, followed by the Boks v Portugal, All Blacks v Fiji, Australia v Georgia and Argentina v Uruguay the third games of the July internationals.
This will be unfortunate for many fans around the world if some of these series are squared, which would rob them of seeing what would have been a thrilling decider between two top teams.
Positives against negativesHowever Stick believes the positives outweigh the negatives for the tier two nations and for the growth of the game.
