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July international window in significant doubt as PRO14 cancels its tournament final
New Zealand Rugby is facing another significant blow as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc worldwide.
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As the organisation scrambles to find alternative solutions to fill the void left by the suspended Super Rugby competition, rugby bosses in Europe have announced the indefinite suspension of the PRO14 as well as the cancellation of the tournament’s final in Cardiff on June 20.
Such a move is likely to prove costly for NZR, who are set to host Wales and Scotland in July as they are scheduled to take on the All Blacks in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin.
The vast majority of players who make up the Welsh and Scottish squads ply their trade at club level in the PRO14, which consists of teams from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and South Africa.
“The suspension of the 2019/20 season of the Guinness PRO14 is now on an indefinite basis due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” competition organisers said in a statement.
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“Due to the evolving situation, unfortunately the board had to take the further decision to cancel the Guinness PRO14 Final at Cardiff City Stadium, set to take place on June 20.
“Refunds will be made automatically to all who have already purchased tickets.”
While the closure of New Zealand’s borders had already put the July fixtures in doubt, the suspension of the PRO14 leaves most Welsh and Scottish players with the prospect of months without rugby.
That much is indicative by the PRO14’s decision to call off its own final three months in advance, signalling European rugby bosses are preparing for a prolonged period of no professional rugby.
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Even if the coronavirus outbreak has eased by July 4, which is when the All Blacks are supposed to kick-off their 2020 campaign against Wales at Eden Park, it’s difficult to envisage Welsh and Scottish players being in prime physical condition for such a tour.
The All Blacks themselves might not even be ready for the arrival of Wales and Scotland given that Super Rugby isn’t likely to be played any time soon.
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NZR have revealed plans to launch a makeshift competition featuring all five New Zealand franchises to be played over a timeframe of 10-12 weeks, but that is proving to be difficult to bring to fruition.
The Highlanders, Crusaders and Chiefs are all in self-isolation after returning from New Zealand from overseas, and it won’t be for another week-and-a-half before the Highlanders are allowed to leave their homes.
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Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark told Stuff earlier this week that while they wanted to resume training once their self-isolation period was over, they won’t be able to.
“We’re trying to start training again next week but we were absolutely advised that we couldn’t,” he said before also adding that it would become clear by Saturday if any players were in danger of showing any signs of symptoms.
The suspension of Super Rugby and the potential loss of All Blacks fixtures in July has the potential to seriously rock NZR’s finances, but the governing body’s chief executive Mark Robinson remained upbeat about the situation.
“We own the responsibility for the future financial viability of the game, we know we’ve got some incredibly challenging times and some significant head-winds in front of us but we’re confident we can work through it,” he said on Wednesday.
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NZR are likely to not be the only national union impacted by the PRO14’s decision to suspend its competition and cancel its tournament’s final.
Prior to arriving in New Zealand, Scotland are scheduled to face the Springboks on a two-match tour in Cape Town and Durban, while Wales are set to play Japan in Shizuoka a week before taking on the All Blacks.
Elsewhere, Ireland are due to face the Wallabies in a two-match series in Brisbane and Sydney, and Italy have a tour of the Americas in place where they are meant to play the USA, Canada and Argentina.
Notwithstanding the respective travel restrictions each of those countries have in place to combat COVID-19, the chances of those teams whose players are heavily involved in the PRO14 in touring the Southern Hemisphere now appear slim at best.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
What ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
128 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
128 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
128 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
128 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
128 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
128 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
128 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
128 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
128 Go to commentsHo hum.
128 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
128 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
128 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
128 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
128 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
128 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
128 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
128 Go to comments