Rugby Championship on the cards
WELLINGTON: Sanzaar remains optimistic it will be able to play the Rugby Championship later this year and that a full Super Rugby competition will be run next year.
Sanzaar boss Andy Marinos said he was confident the Rugby Championship could be played in the final three months of the year.
‘‘We remain very positive about that,’’ Marinos told Stuff yesterday.
‘‘Obviously the biggest elephant . . . in the room is what sort of restrictions that could come in.
‘‘But we are certainly very positive as a group to deliver a Rugby Championship this year in whichever market we can, where we can get all the teams in and get the competition under way.
‘‘At this stage we are looking at the back end of October, into November and probably early December.’’
Marinos added that a ‘‘bubble’’ arrangement, where the teams would be based in one country after they met quarantine requirements, was a possibility, although nothing had been decided yet.
Super Rugby involving 15 teams from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Japan has been postponed since midMarch due to coronavirus restrictions.
Both New Zealand and Australia have since launched competitions involving their domestic teams.
Former Wales international Marinos said Sanzaar was planning on continuing the crossborder Super Rugby competition next year, despite officials in Australia and New Zealand suggesting a transtasman only tournament was a possibility.
‘‘Sanzaar, as a joint venture, remain committed to working together,’’ he said.
‘‘Whilst we appreciate coming out of 2020 is going to be slightly different, we are busy working through those permutations.’’ — Reuters