Otago, Southland committed to Mitre 10 Cup
OTAGO and Southland are ‘‘100% fully committed’’ to this year’s Mitre 10 Cup.
What form the competition will take is still being finalised but Otago and Southland bosses both say they are keen to take part.
It was a reported earlier this week some provincial unions are wavering on committing to the Mitre 10 Cup due to expense.
Southland, along with Taranaki, North Harbour and Northland and North Harbour, were said to be considering pulling out of the competition while Otago and Wellington were sitting on the fence.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley said Otago had never once discussed pulling out of the competition and was fully committed to it.
The union was just waiting for the outcome of discussions between New Zealand Rugby and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association.
It has signed 21 players for the coming season.
Kinley said Otago was always committed to participating in any national provincial competition.
All provincial unions understood their participation was subject to fully understanding the financial impact of doing so.
‘‘So we keenly await a resolution to the current negotiations between New Zealand Rugby, the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association and provincial unions, to provide greater certainty as we continue to plan and prepare for the Mitre 10 Cup,’’ he said.
Southland Rugby Football
Union general manager Steve Mitchell said the union was like Otago and 100% committed to the competition.
The board had committed to playing in the competition whatever form that took, he said.
They too were waiting for the outcome of the discussions between NZR and the players’ association.
It was complicated as there were other parties involved such as provincial unions and Sky TV and all parties must agree.
Southland had signed more than a dozen players and was looking to add some more to its squad.
Whatever the agreement, Mitchell said Southland was committed to joining the competition. It was imperative Southland be in the competition.
The team had a new coach in Dale MacLeod and he is looking at adding players from the club competition.
The top Southland club competition was set to start on June 20 and draws and registration were being worked out at the moment.
Mitchell had started his role just before the lockdown and was still working in Nelson. He was due to move to Invercargill next week.
New Zealand Rugby announced earlier this month, the Mitre 10 Cup is scheduled from September 11 to November and would involve all 14 provincial teams.
A draw has yet to be announced.
SYDNEY: Waratahs coach Rob Penney almost did not make it back to Australia last Sunday but has now got used to coaching a group of ‘‘sausages’’ while being confined to quarantine.
Penney had returned to his native New Zealand after Super Rugby was suspended in midMarch because of the Covid19 pandemic.
With his team returning to training as curbs were lifted, the 56yearold had trouble boarding his flight from New Zealand on Sunday, the airline having to clear him with Australian immigration officials.
‘‘I was initially rejected,’’ Penney said yesterday.
‘‘But I pleaded my case and . . . I was able to get on. It was a frightening half an hour while I waited to see if I was going to be confirmed on the flight.’’
Following temperature checks and a medical interview on arrival, he was placed in quarantine for 14 days in a Sydney hotel.
He is not allowed to leave his room, which he jokingly called ‘‘Cell 1818’’, but he has been able to monitor the team’s training sessions by watching video and hold conference calls with staff via his laptop.
The team is restricted to training in groups of nine working with a single coach and do not interact with any of the other groups.
‘‘We are terming it a sausage,’’ Penney said.
‘‘So the nine players stay in their [group] and rotate through medical, gym and field work, and enter through one door and leave through another, hence the name sausage.’’
The Waratahs had won just one of their six games before Super Rugby was suspended and Penney said the players were looking forward to a planned domestic competition starting in July.