Cape Town - Hurricanes coach John Plumtree believes South African rugby can become stronger with the further development of black players.



Plumtree spoke to Netwerk24 after his side's 37-17 Super Rugby win over the Lions in Johannesburg at the weekend.

The former Sharks coach acknowledged that the player drain to overseas clubs is damaging the South African game but said the country can improve in another way.



"There's still so much talent here and over the last two weeks I've seen a number of fast backline players coming through. The talent train in this country will just never stop. You're also struggling to keep your best players in the country, but we've got the same problem in New Zealand with so many of our top players lured to Europe with big money.

"I'm also seeing more and more good black players coming through here and it will be frightening if rugby becomes more popular in their communities and their numbers increase. It will be a great asset for South African rugby," Plumtree said.

Plumtree's Hurricanes also beat the Sharks 30-17 on their tour in South Africa and currently lie second in the New Zealand conference and fourth overall.

They host the Blues in Wellington in their final round-robin clash this weekend (June 15 - 09:35 SA time).