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OPINION: The Australians are surely not going to snatch the Rugby Championship below New Zealand’s peak.
Sit. Honesty time. Could occur.
If Australia convinces Sanzaar, who is organizing a stakeholder telephone liaison Thursday night to discuss this, that the four-nation tournament should be played for six weeks in Tasmania in November and December, the “5 million team” ‘in Aotearoa they should sharpen their spears and go to town.
Open the accelerators, load and search for answers. Skulls need to be mounted on window sills. Seriously. Excuses of wringing your hands won’t be enough.
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* Government ‘open’ to New Zealand to host the 2020 Rugby Championship
If New Zealand hosts the Rugby Championship, it won’t just be about giving the hospitality industry something to smile about or allowing fans to catch a glimpse of international rugby.
As several prominent administrators told The Future of Auckland Sport this week, professional sport will be in a great struggle if the government does not open borders in a controlled manner and allow international teams to enter New Zealand.
SPORT OF HEAVEN
South wins a seesaw showdown over North in an inter-island thriller.
Blues President Don Mackinnon, Warriors CEO Cameron George, and New Zealand Netball Players Association CEO Steph Bond emphasized that Covid-19 had bombarded professional sports organizations.
They need all the help they can get to survive.
Mackinnon, also a member of the NZ Cricket board of directors, said the government had to find a solution to ensure that the borders were open for international competitions.
International sport was “on the razor’s edge,” he said. If rugby, cricket and netball fail to get international tournaments played in the last quarter of this year, the impact would flow into the national game.
“We are going to fall off a cliff. It’s a stressful time. ” This is not good.
Phil Walter / Getty Images
All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor will wait a long time with the ball every time the Bledisloe Cup games are played against the Wallabies in 2020.
The New Zealand public also deserves to be rewarded for their efforts, as the government ordered the public to go to war against Covid-19 in March.
After the first lockdown, Kiwis flocked to Super Rugby Aotearoa games, either by parking their butts on seats or watching TV, and NZ Rugby was able to deliver quality content to broadcaster Sky TV.
Psychologically it helped; it was a welcome distraction from the daily struggle.
When Sanzaar announced in July that he would seek government approval to play the tournament here, there were reasons for New Zealanders to be optimistic.
The fact that New Zealand had been chosen to host South Africa, Australia and Argentina to quarantine, train and play here made New Zealanders proud of what they had accomplished against the odds created by Covid-19.
Now, there are doubts.
Mark Tantrum / Getty Images
Rieko Ioane clears the ball during the Rugby Championship test against the Springboks in Wellington last year.
the Sydney morning herald, citing unidentified sources, reports that there is a “great chance” that Australia could snatch the Rugby Championship from New Zealand due to quarantine conditions and superior commercial modeling.
Rugby Australia, for obvious reasons, would appreciate the opportunity to have the Rugby Championship in your backyard because fans of oval balls will no longer have the NRL to watch.
On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told NewstalkZB that there was a “real possibility” that the All Blacks could play tryouts in New Zealand this year.
Were these Bledisloe Cup trials against the Wallabies, or was he referring to the Rugby Championship trials? There were no details.
Ardern said the government had been “very proactive” in trying to facilitate the Rugby Championship here, but had to continue to be guided by the advice of the health authorities.
Mark Tantrum / Getty Images
Springboks midfielder Damian de Allende shows the kind of power that has earned the Springboks a win and draw against the All Blacks in their last two visits to Wellington.
Fair enough. But as Mackinnon, George and Bond have warned, the government cannot afford to waver. However, NZ Rugby officials remain frustrated by the government’s apparent lack of flexibility in terms of allowing visiting teams to bubble up and train while in isolation.
NZ Rugby knows that it can host a tournament and make it grow financially. Possibly in front of full houses.
An envious NZ Rugby can only look at how Australians have handled visiting professional sports teams. On Wednesday, the White Ferns traveled to Brisbane, where they will stay and train in isolation for two weeks before playing games.
However, the New Zealand government, despite the commitment of NZ Rugby to provide visiting teams with full medical kits, is apparently unwilling to do the same for incoming Rugby Championship teams.
Stefan Gosatti / Getty Images
All Black Rieko Ioane is tackled by Samu Kerevi and James O’Connor during a test against the Wallabies in 2019.
New Zealand could be the envy of the sports world if it hosts the Rugby Championship.
If the Australians win this fight, it won’t just be a black eye for NZ Rugby, the All Blacks and their fans.
There will also be many losers in New Zealand. All because the Government could not, or did not want, to find an alternative solution.
For now, all the “5 million team” can do is wait. It’s hard not to be nervous.
