All Blacks player ‘barged in door’ to say he wasn’t interested in Christmas isolation

11:24 am, October 04, 2020

All Blacks coach Ian Foster said a team player “broke into his door” and made it clear that he had no intention of being quarantined for Christmas, highlighting the tension the team is going through in the middle of a confrontation over Rugby Championship matches.

New Zealand Rugby is at odds with Rugby Australia, South Africa Rugby and the Southern Hemisphere governing body SANZAAR on the December 12 goal for the Rugby Championship to be held in Australia.

NZR said they had not accepted the matches, with a final on December 12, meaning the All Blacks would still be in a 14-day quarantine during the Christmas holidays upon their return to New Zealand.

“I had a player who broke into my door and said ‘I won’t be playing on Christmas,'” Foster told Newstalk ZB radio station.

Foster did not identify the player, but NZR has said it would support anyone who chose to retire from the team because they did not want to spend up to 10 weeks away from their family.

“It’s tough for the players,” Foster added about the dispute that is tarnishing the southern hemisphere championship between New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and world champion South Africa.

“They gave them some dates, the dates changed, basically we’ve said through our players association and the union to fix it and get real clarity on the dates.”

All Blacks captain Sam Cane said last week that players weren’t happy with the prospect of being quarantined over Christmas, but would leave it up to administrators to figure it out.

Foster will assemble his squad in Wellington on Monday as they prepare for the first round of the Bledisloe Cup next Sunday against Australia, which is under quarantine in Christchurch through Saturday.

The match will be the first international rugby match to be played since March, when the coronavirus pandemic forced administrators to suspend competitions.

(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)