Covid keeps NZ teams home

The long-awaited return of New Zealand’s men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams to the World Series circuit has been abruptly ended due to Covid-19 complications.

Both the Black Ferns and All Blacks Sevens teams had been scheduled to compete in their first tournaments since March 2020 later this month.

However, the Government’s extension of MIQ protocols until at least late-february has proven to be too big of a hurdle for the squads to overcome.

Men’s coach Clark Laidlaw was left frustrated by the announcement, on a day their 2022 squads were also named.

“We all thought maybe vaccines and boosters would allow us to be able to travel and be back playing, doing our job; it’s what we get paid to do, it’s what we love doing, so it’s definitely disappointing and frustrating,” Laidlaw told NZME.

“The other side of the coin is: we can’t control it, so we have already talked as a group that . . . we have to crack on and prepare so that when the borders do open we have no excuses.”

Both squads are now hoping to send players to take part in as many domestic tournaments and games as possible, while also undertaking their own training camps, while they wait for new international plans to be confirmed.

This year is a significant one

on the Sevens calendar, with the Commonwealth Games (Birmingham, July 28-August 8) and the World Cup (Cape Town, September 9-11) looming as major overseas events.

Laidlaw says both teams’ international rivals will not miss their absence from these important build-up events.

“It’s going to be two years with no overseas rugby apart from Olympics, but I’m not sure the rest of the world will be that fussed that they’ve had six tournaments and we’ve had none. I think they’ll be enjoying the opportunity to try and get ahead of us.

“We just need to keep our heads down, get back preparing really well and fingers crossed and god willing we can rejoin the World Series and start testing ourselves again as we build towards Birmingham and Cape Town.”