The Wallabies’ schedule for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship has been thrown into chaos after New Zealand closed its trans-Tasman bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks.
The spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 in Australia has spooked NZ, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announcing the quarantine-free bubble closure on Friday.
The move comes at a bad time for Rugby Australia ahead of a lucrative Bledisloe Cup series against NZ and the four-nation Rugby Championship.
The Wallabies were due to face off against NZ at Eden Park on August 7 in the Bledisloe Cup opener.
The series was then set to move to Perth, where a crowd of about 60,000 was expected to watch the arch-rivals face off on August 21 in a match that also doubles as the start of their Rugby Championship.
The final match between the teams was set to take place in Wellington on August 28.
Tickets for the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship series went on sale on Friday morning, but just hours later the trans-Tasman bubble was paused.
There’s still a chance the Wallabies-All Blacks fixtures can go ahead under strict COVID-safe conditions, but no formal announcements have been made as yet.
The Wallabies were initially set to meet up on the Gold Coast on Sunday for a week of preparation before flying to NZ.
But the team may be forced to head to NZ much earlier than first planned in order to ensure the series can go ahead.
The Wallabies would need to receive an exemption from the NZ Government for that to eventuate.
The Ardern government is granting Kiwis seven days to return to NZ, and the Prime Minister indicated the Wallabies could use that window to head there as well under an economic impact exemption.
Wallabies players and staff would need to provide a negative pre-departure COVID test before being granted permission to fly to NZ.
If anyone is coming from Sydney they will need to enter 14 days hotel quarantine, while people from Melbourne will need to self isolate.
Western Australia has enforced some of the world’s tightest border restrictions since the coronavirus pandemic hit, meaning there are huge question marks surrounding the prospect of Perth hosting the August 21 fixture.
It means all three Tests between Australia and the All Blacks could be played in NZ.
The Wallabies beat France 2-1 in the recent series in Australia and the bulk of the Australian squad has remained in Queensland, with some Brumbies players returning to Canberra.
RUGBY AU STATEMENT
New Zealand Rugby (NZR), Rugby Australia (RA) and SANZAAR will evaluate its options around The Bledisloe Cup Series and eToro Rugby Championship following the New Zealand Government’s decision to pause the trans-Tasman travel bubble today.
The New Zealand Government announced today that quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand has been paused for a period of eight weeks.
Rugby Australia Chief Executive Officer Andy Marinos said: “We are working closely with New Zealand Rugby and the various Governments through different scenarios now. Rugby Australia’s position has always been to prioritise the health and safety of its players, staff and fans, and today’s announcement only reinforces that. We want to thank the Australian Government as well as the New Zealand Government for their support so far, as we aim for a positive outcome in the coming days.
“The Wallabies team have been in a secure bubble since the conclusion of the France Series, with the squad assembled on the Gold Coast. The players are regularly PCR tested and have maintained strict bio-security protocols as recommended by the Return To Play Committee and the relevant health authorities,” Marinos said.
NZR Chief Executive Mark Robinson said the New Zealand Government’s latest announcement presented some obvious challenges.
The All Blacks are due to host two Bledisloe Cup Tests, with the Rugby Championship scheduled to be played primarily in New Zealand and Australia over the next two months.
“We know the uncertainty this creates is challenging for our fans, players and partners, but remain committed to finding a path forward and continuing to deliver world-class rugby in 2021.
“We are continuing to work closely with the New Zealand Government to explore the option of bringing Australia across the Tasman for the two Bledisloe Cup Tests.
“As we have throughout the Covid-19 pandemic our decisions will continue be guided by the advice of relevant Government and health authorities with the health and safety of our people at the forefront of any decisions. It’s important we evaluate all of our options before finalising any plans,” Robinson said.
SANZAAR along with its member national unions – NZR, RA, South Africa Rugby and Argentina Rugby Union – will announce any potential and necessary changes to the tournament schedule in due course.
NZR and RA will also continue to work through scenarios regarding the Buildcorp Wallaroos tour to New Zealand against the Black Ferns, and any possible travel implications.
Rugby Australia will also plan scenarios with Lakapi Samoa for the PacificAus Sport Series with the Buildcorp Wallaroos.
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
The old brownsnake sure does
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
looking good up here in Brissy! :happy:
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
Thanks mate, I live here so didn’t know anything that’s going on in the UK. Covid is a global problem. At least we’re vaccinated here. How’s Sydney going?
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
The problem, TJ, is Delta covid. UK is bracing for an upsurge in cases and it's the young and fit that are likely to bear the brunt of this. The UK Govt can't reassure Aust and NZ (in RL as well as RU) that they have everything in place given that Boris already got covid and had to self-isolate again after the Health Secretary came down with it. Everything the UK Govt is doing to manage Covid should be telling Aust and NZ NOT to send their rugby teams to the North.
P2R2
Roar Rookie
Its not the MITRE 10 anymore - It's the BUNNINGS NPC....
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
The cases have been going down, but let's see what the reopening of night clubs does.. that impact should hit our numbers in uk here by next Friday.
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
Only in doubt if SH teams don't want to travel to north knowing they will need to quarantine for 2 weeks (most likely) when they get back. Oz and NZ don't have to quarantine coming this way. Oz and NZ are green list countries. The UK where I am is going to be fully vaccinated by end of September for all those who want it over 18. I think it will open the door to D Rennie to use overseas based players for the tour if some of the squad decide not to travel. It's a great excuse to try lure a few boys back playing in Europe like I can see what he is doing with Duncan P. I think Rugby players are used to the quarantine periods. If Sanzaar was smart, I'd be working with the RFU - move a few of the RC games to Twickenham to coincide with the Spring Tour. You'd sellout Twickenham here with expats for any Saffa, NZ or Wallabies game.
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
Enough warning? I am stuck overseas at the moment. We had absolutely no warning when you have things like careers, mortgages, rental agreements, etc. that you can't just leave on whim's notice. There was other factors too like a dramatic shortage of flights, lack of comms from DFAT depending on where you are in the world. I'm not sure your comprehension of what us aussies overseas are dealing with.
Jamez
Roar Rookie
That i did hear about. And the guy from Brisbane that used sheets to escape 4th floor, what a nutcase :laughing:
Micko
Roar Rookie
That’s the one. Went on the front foot, trying to get Australia to open the border with NZ again. Was then pushing for NZ to have travel bubbles with individual states, rather than wait for all of Australia. This current decision defies the precedent that the NZ government were keen to set last year when it was going to benefit them!
Micko
Roar Rookie
Maybe Jamez the NZ government learnt from the debacle last year, where cheeky & cunning selfish kiwis could’ve caused an outbreak in WA after flouting WA’s rules, where NZ was cut off from WA’s list of the quarantine free travel bubble as NZ was having new issues emerge. They were booking two flights: one from NZ to the states that still had the open travel bubble with WA, then a second to WA, so they could fly under the radar into Perth without notifying the authorities they were from NZ, so they could then get out of observing two weeks quarantine whilst here! :angry: :angry: :angry: :thumbdown:
Jamez
Roar Rookie
I must of missed that, if the deputy you were referring to was Winston Peters (elderly Maori man), hes a bit of a character, and has be known to be outspoken.
Micko
Roar Rookie
The Deputy PM of NZ was whinging his head off when interviewed last year, as the problem for NZ is, is that their economy heavily relies on “Australian tourists”(i.e. the nearly 15% of NZ’s citizens that live in Australia going to NZ to see family & friends every year). The NZ government was desperate to get back an open border arrangement with Australia, and thus for their own convenience were happy to seek out deals with individual states for travel bubbles, instead of dealing with Australia as a whole, which apparently is so vital now, despite the fact WA is safer than NZ with any covid issues arising from the eastern states.
Jamez
Roar Rookie
Hahaha, as much as i would like to believe “whatever you say” care to back up what you have stated with some “evidence” or is it all talk? I dont ever recall NZ govt complaining about Australia shutting its boarders.
Micko
Roar Rookie
And also, this is the same NZ government that backtracked dramatically fast last year when the bledisloe was at risk due to their farcical insistence that the wallabies wouldn't be able to leave the hotel to train in NZ...one Dave Rennie categorically said he wouldn't tolerate. VOILA, all of a sudden the NZ government managed to change their own rules regarding this just prior to the bledisloe! :silly:
ME
Guest
Do you do anything other than whinge about New Zealand? And no WA is certainly not safer than NZ.
Micko
Roar Rookie
WA is far safer than NZ from whatever is going on in the eastern states right now. And this is the same NZ government that at the height of this pandemic in 2020 was complaining about not having open access to Australia, then wanted to have open border arrangements with individual states, rather than treat Australia as a whole.
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
Slightly different circumstances…
AndyS
Guest
Perhaps, but it certainly makes more sense than saying that the global rate of people stung by Irukandji is tiny, so it's safe to get in the water. It has to be looked at locally, based on risk to the population for which they are responsible. The one thing they would absolutely know is that if they are aware of the risk and take no action they will be held responsible for any and all outcomes (just as with Covid).
AndyS
Guest
2 or 3 levels beyond...could be being a bit generous there! ???? I didn't say IFR isn't important. What I said was that, while the letter may have made a passing acknowledgement of age, it nonetheless makes the argument that a low average IFR around the whole world means that Hunt should do nothing in Australia. It is a pretty specious argument and could at least have referenced the Australian IFR, that actually being the only number an Australian minister would actually care about. And the exponential impact of age would only tend to validate their approach in making vaccines available based on age. Agree to some extent on YLL; indeed, initially wondered whether the Government might take a, let's say pragmatic, approach to the problem given the looming issues around pensions. But that strays pretty close to eugenics and Australia made it clear they were expecting elimination rather than management. Britain tried that approach and it didn't go so well with an actual IFR of about 1%, which perhaps only emphasises how much the unsustainable measures taken may be disguising the real IFR of the disease had it been allowed to run freely. So it will be interesting to see how Australia now goes about unwinding those measures and getting to the point where they don't even bother counting the number of cases. But nowhere near as entertaining as would be the path you seem to be advocating, which seems to be Morrison standing up and telling everyone "Tough %^& if you're not already vaccinated, U40s will just have to take their chances, no more jabs and all the barriers are coming down".