Highlanders to take on Rebels in Queenstown
The Highlanders will hit the road for their round three home game against the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition, taking the fixture to Queenstown on Sunday, May 30.
The game will be played at the Queenstown Events Centre and the crowd capacity will be ‘‘about 10,000,’’ Queenstown Lakes District Council Jim Boult told Stuff yesterday.
‘‘The good news is that the Rebels will be flying in before the game and they are going to be based here for a week because they play the Chiefs the weekend after they play the Highlanders,’’ Boult said.
‘‘It’s nice to have them here and great to have a high-profile, first-class sports event in the district.’’
The event will go some way to softening the blow felt in Queenstown when last year’s Rugby Championship, which was originally due to be held in New Zealand with a quarantine hub in Queenstown, was shifted to Australia.
‘‘It’s a feelgood factor for people living here but a really good economic generator as well,’’ Boult said.
‘‘It’ll bring in lots of Otago and Southland people, probably people from a bit further afield and certainly some from Australia.
Boult said the fixture would also present Queenstown with an opportunity to sell itself to a wider audience after the tourism industry was badly hit by the effects of Covid-19.
‘‘The TV folk are going to mount a camera up on The Remarks [Remarkables] to get long-distance views of the district and the game and I think that will look amazing,’’ he said.
The Highlanders begin their Super Rugby Trans-Tasman campaign with a game against the Reds in Dunedin on May 14 before they travel to face the Force in Perth in round 2.
Injuries have hit the side hard this year but lock Pari Pari Parkinson played in Dunedin club rugby last weekend and it is hoped he can play a big role against Australian opposition.
The Highlanders have a poor recent record against the Rebels, losing against the Melbourne side in Dunedin in 2020 and Melbourne in 2019.
Rebels coach Dave Wessels announced last week that he was standing down with immediate effect after they finished fourth in Super Rugby AU competition.
Kevin Foote has been appointed interim coach for the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition, and the Rebels have announced that he will also be assisted by the Wallabies coaching staff of Dave Rennie, Scott Wisemantel and Matt Taylor.