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British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland wants his team to play a warm-up match against the All Blacks before their tour of South Africa next year.
Rugby, like most other sports, has been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Gatland, who coached the Lions in their drawn series in New Zealand in 2017, said the one-off decider could generate much-needed revenue when the sport resumes.
The 56-year-old added that he had broached the subject of the Lions playing the All Blacks to New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson, who mentioned New Zealand Maori as an alternative.
(AP Photo/Mark Baker)
“But is it something that the All Blacks go up there for? A decider before we go off to South Africa at the end of June next year,” Gatland told Sky Sports New Zealand.
“Potentially it’s an opportunity to make five million pounds ($A10 million) from a game like that and put some money back into the coffers that we’re going to need.”
Gatland stepped down as Wales coach after guiding them to the World Cup semi-finals last year and currently coaches Super Rugby side the Chiefs. He will take a year off from that role to lead the Lions on their tour.
The Lions play the first Test of the three-match series in South Africa at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on July 24, 2021, with the second Test to be staged at the Cape Town Stadium a week later.
The final Test will be played at the Springboks’ traditional fortress of Ellis Park in Johannesburg on August 7.
© AAP
If COVID-19 has created hardship across the face of the globe, it has also helped distil some essential truths more clearly. One of those truths is that the brother nations of New Zealand and Australia work best when they work together.
New Zealand Rugby has completed a key player deal, re-signing rising All Blacks lock Scott Barrett through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Following on from recent articles by Brett McKay and JD Kiwi about creating teams based on players and team units from victorious Super Rugby teams of the past, I have decided to go the other way and create an XV based on players who have never won a title.
Professional rugby and netball are close to returning to action in New Zealand after the government unveiled its rules for sport when the country next eases its coronavirus restrictions.
The new-look All Blacks leadership duo of coach Ian Foster and captain Sam Cane fully expect a Bledisloe Cup series against the Wallabies will be their first, and possibly only, international rugby of 2020.
To fully appreciate the greatness of the Wallabies era of 20 years ago, Stirling Mortlock says look no further than their defeat in rugby’s ‘Test of the Century’.
