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Jacinda Ardern (Getty Images)
Prime Minister Jacinda ardern said Monday it was working to ensure New Zealand’s strict quarantine rules didn’t stop the All the black people hosting the Wallabies at the Bledisloe Cup next month.
Last week, New Zealand lost the rights to host the November-December Rugby Championship to Australia because its strict border controls would have hampered the training of players.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie expressed similar concerns about the Bledisloe Cup on Sunday.
But Ardern, who faces the October 17 election in the rugby-mad nation, assured fans that “we can find a viable solution so that we can make the Bledisloe Cup a reality.”
She said the Australian Wallabies had a lower risk of Covid-19 than the South African and Argentine players involved in the Four Nation Rugby Championship.
“There is a different risk profile for teams in Australia than, for example, those in South Africa and Argentina, where we already have team members who tested positive for Covid,” he told reporters.
When asked if Bledisloe’s parties could also move to Australia, Ardern replied: “I don’t think it is necessary.”
The championship was changed because New Zealand rules would have prevented the teams from playing together for much of their two-week quarantine.
Rennie said he would not accept such restrictions for the Wallabies, who were reportedly selected to face the All Blacks on October 10, for what will be the New Zealander’s first test as coach of the Australian team.
“New Zealand Rugby has the expectation that we get on a plane one day after the Super Rugby final (on September 19), we have two weeks in quarantine where we cannot prepare as a team and play a test seven days later.” said. he told reporters on Sunday.
“Under those quarantine arrangements, I can assure you that we will not play a test that weekend.”
It now seems likely that the two Bledisloe events, which were awarded to New Zealand as a consolation for losing the Rugby Championship, will be played on October 17 and 24.
Ardern was unfazed by the prospect of a test of the All Blacks taking place on the same date as the general election.
“New Zealanders can perfectly participate with the Bledisloe Cup and an election,” he said, noting that events in New Zealand were traditionally played at night, when the polls would have already closed.
There is a strong chance that at least one of the tests will be played in front of a large crowd, after Ardern said he wanted to move the country, with the exception of Auckland, to a lower alert level starting on September 21. .
That will remove the limits on social gatherings, allowing spectators to enter the sports fields.
