World champions South Africa have been handed a 48-hour deadline to resolve internal issues and confirm their participation in the Rugby Championship.
The southern hemisphere championship, which also includes Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, will be held entirely in Australia this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last weekend, Rugby South Africa said "several hurdles" needed to be cleared, before it could confirm Springboks participation and it hoped to make a decision early this week.
But with the tournament set to begin in Sydney on October 31 and the Springboks scheduled to play their first match against Argentina on November 7, time is running out to get players into Australia and through quarantine.
"Member unions have agreed to provide South Africa Rugby with an additional 48 hours to finalise its internal stakeholder discussions," SANZAAR says. "This will now delay the scheduled departure of the Springboks from South Africa to Australia.
"SANZAAR will provide an update on the resolution of these discussions and a timetable for the Springboks participation in the Rugby Championship, when available in the coming days."
The delayed departure of the South African players means the match schedule will probably change, but SANZAAR says tests between Australia and New Zealand on October 31 and November 7 would go ahead as planned.
The South African Government lifted the ban on international sporting participation earlier this month, but SA Rugby is seeking further clarification on the regulations.
There has been widespread concern in South Africa's rugby community that their players are a long way from ready for the intensity of the competition.
After a long COVID-19 lockdown, South African rugby returned to action only two weeks ago and the domestic Super Rugby competition started last weekend.
By contrast, New Zealand and Australia have already completed their Super Rugby competitions, and played a Bledisloe Cup test in Wellington last weekend, drawing 16-16.
The Pumas squad are already training in a bio-secure bubble in Sydney, despite several players and coach Mario Ledesma testing positive for COVID-19 during their preparatory camp in Argentina.
Reuters
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