Former Springbok captain and World Cup winner John Smit says South Africa’s franchises in the PRO14 should be rotated.
The Cheetahs and Kings exited Super Rugby and moved to the PRO14 at the start of the current season. Both sides have yet to record a victory.
Smit believes the contrast in playing styles between the two hemispheres could be the reason for their slow starts.
The 39-year-old added that South Africa’s representatives in the PRO14 should be rotated from time to time and not be set in place forever.
“I’m a big fan of a move north and selfishly I think South Africa has the ability to play on both sides,” Smit told Sky Sports.
“The problem we have is that we’ve got six teams, and we can’t afford six teams. The Kings and the Cheetahs are going to struggle for year one and year two.
“The unfortunate thing is that they are the two weakest teams and the two teams with the smallest budgets in South Africa.
“I think to make it stronger [South Africa’s presence], we need to make the [South African] teams playing in the PRO14 competitive. The Kings and the Cheetahs will get better and they’ll learn because it’s a very different style.
“The Kings survived in Super Rugby because there is a far different emphasis on set-piece and defence, so here they are going to get exposed.
“But when they bolster up those squads it will be better, and why not possibly rotate those teams? Why should it only be the Cheetahs and Kings that we get to see in the northern hemisphere?
“Let’s give them two seasons and in year two give them a few more players and then we start rotating. One year we have the Kings and Cheetahs and the next the Sharks and Bulls.”
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