SA ‘ready to host more rugby Tests’

Australians confident Perth will host rescheduled All Blacks clash, though CEO Marinos says Kiwis keep setting up roadblocks

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said SA is ready to host the remainder of the Rugby Championship, as the competition’s organisers scramble for a venue for the rest of this year’s matches in the coming days. The Boks have been told they cannot enter New Zealand for two Tests in late September due to Covid19 travel restrictions there, while the All Blacks have said they will not travel to Perth next weekend.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says SA is ready to host the remainder of the Rugby Championship, as the competition’s organisers scramble for a venue for the rest of this year’s matches in the coming days.

The Boks have been told they cannot enter New Zealand for two Tests in late September due to Covid-19 travel restrictions there, while the All Blacks have said they will not travel to Perth to face Australia next weekend.

It has thrown the future of the competition into doubt, but

Nienaber believes SA’s lessons from recently hosting the British & Irish Lions for an eight-match series, including three Tests, and Argentina for their opening two games of the Rugby Championship, mean SA Rugby has all protocols in place.

“We would love to host. It would be good for the country,” Nienaber told reporters after Saturday’s 29-10 victory over Argentina in Gqeberha.

“We have showed that we can host in a pandemic. We have the protocols in place. But wherever it is the safest, and where we can get continuity in the tournament, we will play. We will play anywhere.”

Ahead of the Argentina Test, Nienaber said the squad had been under a lot of pressure:

“The pressure that we put on ourselves as a squad, I was very nervous of this Test match and I thought the players were unbelievable in terms of how they stood up.”

Rugby Australia CEO Andy Marinos is “optimistic” the Wallabies’ Bledisloe Cup meeting with New Zealand will go ahead in Perth, despite the All Blacks’ withdrawal from next Saturday’s game because of concerns over Covid-19 restrictions.

The third meeting of the series between the teams — which also doubles up as the countries’ second clash in this year’s Rugby Championship — was scheduled to be played in Western Australia on August 28.

But after a decision on Friday by New Zealand Rugby to pull out of the game sparked a war of words between the nations’ rugby officials, Marinos is confident the match can still happen at a later date.

“We’re working hard now with the Western Australian government and the stadium to see if we can move that to September 4,” Marinos told Channel Nine on Sunday.

“We remain optimistic and confident we can get the game away eventually in Perth.”

New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson dismissed claims Rugby Australia had not been consulted before the All Blacks pulled out, having won the opening two encounters in Auckland earlier in the month.

“We had calls right through from Wednesday, Thursday, we put something in writing on Thursday and then we spoke to them before anything was released,” Robinson told Newstalk ZB.

“Certainly I know that senior All Blacks and Wallabies were discussing the situation and our players were making them aware of the reality of our situation,” he said.

Despite the decision, which also entailed the cancellation of the All Blacks’ home matches in the Rugby Championship against SA, Robinson stressed New Zealand Rugby still planned to play the third match in the Bledisloe Cup series.

“We understand that Rugby Australia are under severe financial pressure,” Robinson said. “This is an important game for them and we are committed to playing that match.”

Marinos, however, remained unconvinced that the All Blacks had planned to travel to Perth for the game as scheduled.

“I don’t think they really had any intention of fulfilling that game on the 28th,” he said.

“We feel there’s been a significant amount of compromise and sacrifice on our side.

“We don’t feel that’s being reciprocated at the moment. They just keep putting up roadblocks.”