Bulls
SA Super Rugby teams to join Europe's 'Rainbow Cup' in 2021
The Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers will join 12 clubs from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy in the competition.
Nucifora said the benefits of having them join what is at present the Pro14 would help develop Irish rugby and challenge the players.
Victory for frontrunners the Bulls left them well placed to win the single-round competition which signalled the return of rugby to South Africa last month after a six-month break due to COVID-19.
Morne Steyn, who new Bulls coach Jake White calls his "general", had the final say with his penalty ensuring the Bulls of victory but not preventing the Griquas from taking a losing bonus point.
The move means that the Cheetahs will miss out on a spot in the proposed PRO 16 competition, but in a statement the Free State franchise has negotiated its participation as a fifth franchise in a Super 8 competition.
Reports claim Pollard's former side the Bulls, the Lions, the Sharks and the Stormers are set to replace the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings in the league which includes outfits from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.
Cape Town-born Strauss captained the Lions in Super Rugby before moving to Glasgow Warriors in 2012.
White has recently been coaching the Toyota Verblitz in Japan and joins the Vodacom Bulls with over four decades of coaching experience stretching back to the early 1980s.
The North-South rivals will square off on Saturday, as the Stormers look to make it two straight wins at the start of the season.
The competition started for the first time in January on Friday and Brumbies coach Dan McKellar compared the conditions to an oven as temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius (104° Fahrenheit) during his side’s 27-24 victory over the Reds in Canberra.
Both sides named strong starting lineups with Jannie du Plessis, Elton Jantjies and Courtnall Skosan all starting for the Johannesburg side.
The Hurricanes have reached the semi-finals for a fifth consecutive season after beating the Bulls in Wellington.
Coastal Sharks will lack two injured Springbok front rowers, prop Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira and hooker Akker van der Merwe, against the Lions as they seek to improve a dismal home record.
Morne Steyn will replace fellow international fly-half Handre Pollard at Loftus Versfeld who will join Montpellier in France.
Flyhalf Handre Pollard would join fellow South Africans including Jannie and Bismarck du Plessis and Johan Goosen at the French club.
Despite the scoreline, there will be areas of concern for Crusaders coach Scott Robertson as he prepares for a match against the Stormers in Cape Town next weekend.
He is set to join fellow South Africans Faf de Klerk and Rohan Janse van Rensburg at the English franchise.
Duane Vermeulen limped off during the first half of last weekend’s humiliating 56-20 home defeat to the Waikato Chiefs.
The 56-20 loss to the previously-winless Waikato Chiefs was either a listless one-off after a bye week or a sign that the South African side’s early season form has flattered to deceive.