No isolation at Christmas for ABs
WELLINGTON: Host Rugby Australia and organiser Sanzaar have revealed a revised schedule for the Rugby Championship after bowing to pressure from New Zealand Rugby.
The competition will now kick off a week earlier.
Australia’s clash with New Zealand scheduled for December 12 will now be played on
October 31 after NZR objected to the original date as it meant the All Blacks would have had to spend Christmas in quarantine due to New Zealand’s Covid19 travel restrictions.
The initial fixture list had the competition starting on November 7.
The row over the scheduling had soured relations between
New Zealand and Australia, RU chairman Hamish McLennan admitted this week.
The teams are scheduled to play two Bledisloe Cup tests before the start of the competition, the first on Sunday.
All matches involving Argentina and world champion South Africa will remain as scheduled, and the pair will now close out the competition on December 12 at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium. The game was originally scheduled for Sydney.
South African Rugby has still yet to officially confirm the Springboks’ participation though as worries over a lack of preparation time and player welfare persist.
The country’s domestic com