25 Sep 2020

Rugby Championship far from guaranteed

9:10 am on 25 September 2020

The New Zealand Rugby Players association boss Rob Nichol says the Rugby Championship may not go ahead.

New Zealand Rugby are upset the schedule could leave the All Blacks locked in quarantine over Christmas.

NZR say they never agreed to the itinerary and want the the All Blacks last game to be moved from December the 12th to December the 5th so the players and staff can be spend Christmas with their families.

Nichol says he doubts the New Zealand government would relax the rules to allow the team to do less than 14 days in isolation.

He says the issue might resolve itself, with the Springboks and Argentina's participation in the tournament not yet gauranteed.

The New Zealand Rugby Players association boss Rob Nichol says no players have said they won't go to the Rugby Championship, though he concedes the current schedule will make it hard for some to attend.

New Zealand Rugby say they never agreed to the six week itinerary and want the the All Blacks last game to be moved from December the 12th to December the 5th so the players and staff can be spend Christmas with their families.

Nichol says there are other details that need to be confirmed before the players make a call on whether they'll go.

Nichol says he doubts the New Zealand government would relax the rules to allow the team to do less than 14 days in isolation.

He says the issue might resolve itself, with the Springboks and Argentina's participation in the tournament not yet gauranteed.

The New Zealand Rugby Players association boss Rob Nichol says the All Blacks could begin their 14 days of quarantine in Australia before they return to New Zealand as a way of avoiding being in isolation over Christmas.

New Zealand Rugby are disappointed their final game of the Rugby Championship in Australia will be on December the 12th rather than December the 5th, which could leave the All Blacks locked in quarantine over Christmas.

They say they never agreed to that schedule.

Nichol says creating a bubble with the Wallabies for the final game could mean the All Blacks can spend less days in quarantine in New Zealand, but he says moving the dates of the fixtures is New Zealand Rugby's preference.