Springboks star’s honest R360 admission as unions unite against breakaway competition

Springboks scrum-half Cobus Reinach insists the chance to play Test rugby is enough to ignore the lure of R360, as unions ramp up their fightback against the breakaway league. 

The Mike Tindall-led rebel competition is set to launch in October 2026, offering players large contracts while also seeing a compressed playing season. At the time of writing, the league is set to begin with eight men’s teams and four women’s teams, playing a four-month season.

Reports have also emerged that players like Henry Slade, Antoine Dupont, Ellie Kildunne and Jac Morgan are on the shopping list ahead of the maiden season.

‘Participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection’

However, leading unions have since said players who join the project will no longer be eligible for Test selection.

“As a group of national rugby unions, we are urging extreme caution for players and support staff considering joining the proposed R360 competition,” a joint statement from the national unions of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, England, Scotland, France and Italy read.

“The R360 model, as outlined publicly, rather appears designed to generate profits and return them to a very small elite, potentially hollowing out the investment that national unions and existing leagues make in community rugby, player development, and participation pathways.

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“International rugby and our major competitions remain the financial and cultural engine that sustains every level of the game — from grassroots participation to elite performance. Undermining that ecosystem could be enormously harmful to the health of our sport.

“These are all issues that would have been much better discussed collaboratively, but those behind the proposed competition have not engaged with or met all unions to explain and better understand their business and operating model.

“Each of the national unions will therefore be advising men’s and women’s players that participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection.”

With Test rugby now officially off the table for any player who joins R360, it leaves some of the biggest names with a huge choice to make.

‘The boys know where we want to go’

Test rugby has long been seen as the pinnacle of the sport, particularly for the four-time World Champion Springboks, and even with the sums of money reportedly being offered to players, Reinach feels that boyhood desire to represent your country is bigger than any offer R360 can throw at players.

“Why speculate about something that’s not even on the table,” said the 35-year-old. “They haven’t done anything yet and there’s no real concrete plan.

“What we play for here is unreal and is every boy’s dream. I don’t know what their plans are, I don’t know how they’re going to do it; it doesn’t look like they are.

“The boys know where we want to go. Every one of us.”

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