Report: Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo'unga among All Blacks stars set to miss Rugby Championship over quarantine laws
A two-week quarantine period upon arrival in Australia for the upcoming Rugby Championship could see the All Blacks play in the competition without some of their best players.
According to RNZ, both of the All Blacks first fives, Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga, are understood to be unwilling to spend up to 10 weeks away from their young families.
The quarantine restrictions would force the All Blacks into a month of quarantine as they leave and return to New Zealand for the competition, which also features South Africa and Argentina and is set to run from November 7 to December 12.
A fortnight of quarantine on the return trip home in December would also force the All Blacks to spend Christmas Day away from loved ones, and it is being reported that that would be too significant of a hurdle to overcome.
Mo’unga and his wife welcomed their firstborn child last month, while Barrett will become a father for the first time within the next month.
It’s not just the two playmakers who are reported to be disinterested in making the lengthy trip across the Tasman, with RNZ stating that halfback TJ Perenara, who also has a newborn baby, wants to stay in New Zealand.
Elsewhere, wing Sevu Reece’s partner is reportedly set to give birth next month, and there are a host of other players within the national set-up who have young children and may replicate the stance taken by some of the squad’s key men.
The result could leave the All Blacks with a significantly understrength side to the 35-man team Ian Foster named over a week ago as they prepare to host two Bledisloe Cup tests in New Zealand before departing for Australia.
Speaking to media after Canterbury’s season-opening win over North Harbour on Friday, Codie Taylor acknowledged it would be “tough” spending so much time away from home.
“I’m still working through it mentally, but there will be processes in place,” he said.
“The All Blacks environment is like a home.
“It’ll be tough being away from the family and kids, but people have to do it all over the work.
“You always want to play at home, even if it was behind closed doors with an empty crowd.
“With what’s going on, it’s what you have to do to get out on the paddock.”
It’s a sentiment that his All Blacks teammates George Bridge and Rieko Ioane agree with, but both suggested that players need to adapt in these turbulent times.
“We haven’t got the full details around times and dates, but that’s the way it is. It’s been a rough year and you just have to be adaptable,” Bridge said after Canterbury’s victory in Albany.
“There was some chat about the Rugby Championship being played in New Zealand, but it’s good to see we will have a couple of test matches here.”
Following Auckland’s 38-6 thumping of Otago in Dunedin on Saturday, Ioane told Stuff: “It is what it is.
“You take the good with the bad, but it’s going to be a bit of a drag the last bit.
“Of the top of my head TJ [Perenara] and Richie [Mo’unga] are new fathers.
“It’s not something they’ll want to do but I think it’s something they have to do.
“Everyone will support them but it’ll definitely be a tough time for them.”
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson has already offered support to those players who would opt against travelling to Australia for health or personal reasons.
“We are hugely supportive of our players – we know they have gone through an incredibly tough time this year,” he said in a statement last week.
“This challenge of what they are about to undertake is going to be significant and we will back them and their families in whatever way we need to ensure they are looked after.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What a dagg in more ways than one
5 Go to commentsRegroup come back next year but sack some of the coaching team and don't be like the ABs last minute sacking. If Crusaders don't do well ABs don't do well.
5 Go to commentsProctor Definitely inform again this year had a hell of a season last year and this year is looking even better. Still mixed feelings about Ioane tho.
4 Go to commentsDagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
5 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
5 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
4 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
38 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to comments