CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) Rugby World Cup participant Namibia will join South Africa's provincial rugby competition next year.
Namibia has qualified for every World Cup since 1999 without progressing beyond the pool stage, and inclusion in the Currie Cup will offer increased game time against South Africa's 14 provinces.
Namibia's cricket team already competes in South Africa's provincial tournaments.
Currie Cup teams will no longer be split into groups for the first stage of the competition, and will instead face each other in a round-robin from April 9 to July 23.
''That stage will run in parallel to Super Rugby with the second stage of the Currie Cup only kicking off at the conclusion of the Super Rugby log stage,'' South African Rugby Union CEO Jurie Roux said on Friday.
''The Vodacom Cup competition has been discontinued to create the space in the calendar.''
