The All Blacks duo react to New Zealand’s loss of Rugby Championship host rights

5:52 am, September 12, 2020

All Blacks star Codie Taylor says staying in Australia for the duration of the Rugby Championship and facing the prospect of being trapped in quarantine on Christmas Day will be “difficult.”

SANZAAR announced on Friday that Australia had won the rights to host the annual Southern Hemisphere tournament between November and December, after weeks of speculation that New Zealand was leading the way in hosting the competition.

New Zealand’s rejected offer came despite backing from SANZAAR and World Rugby, with the All Blacks instead hosting two Bledisloe Cup matches the next month before traveling to Australia.

With the Rugby Championship scheduled to last from November 7 to December 12, the All Blacks face the prospect of a two-week quarantine period upon their return to New Zealand.

As such, Ian Foster’s 35-man squad, many of whom have young families they will not have during their time in Australia, appear poised to spend Christmas Day in quarantine, something Taylor says is a daunting prospect.

“I’m still mentally working, but there will be processes underway,” he said after Canterbury’s 43-29 win over North Harbor in Albany on Friday.

“The All Blacks environment is like home.

“It will be difficult to be away from family and children, but people have to do all 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 go out to the paddock.”

It’s an assessment that Taylor’s All Blacks, Crusaders and Canterbury teammate George Bridge agrees with, but noted that players need to adapt in these times of pandemic.

“We don’t have all the details about the times and dates, but we do. It has been a hard year and you just have to adapt.

“There was a conversation about the Rugby Championship to be played in New Zealand, but it is good to see that we will have a couple of test matches here.”

New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson stated earlier this week that NZR would support All Blacks who choose not to travel to Australia for health or personal reasons.

“We are very supportive of our players, we know they have been through an incredibly difficult time this year.

“This challenge of what they are about to undertake will be significant and we will support them and their families in whatever we need to do to make sure they are taken care of.”