Rugby: Wallabies leaders Dave Rennie and Michael Hooper praise New Zealand government for quarantine changes ahead of Bledisloe Cup tryouts

Quarantine now looks much more attractive to Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, who has praised the New Zealand government’s work ahead of his two Bledisloe Cup events in New Zealand.

The Wallabies depart tomorrow for New Zealand, where they will enter the mandatory two-week isolation period, before the October 11-18 games in Wellington and Auckland.

Initially, the quarantine rules got in the way of Wallabies experiencing uninterrupted camp. Players would have been forced to isolate themselves individually for three days upon arrival, before moving to bubbles limited to 15 for four days, and then 25 for the next seven.

After a strong rejection from Rennie, those rules were changed, and the team can now meet up after three days. Rennie says he appreciates the work done by the New Zealand Government and Rugby.

“We are very happy with what has been done so far, we have three days in which we will be locked in our rooms, but outside of that we will be able to train and fully prepare as a team.” he says.

“It is a huge step up from what was originally discussed, so we are grateful that the New Zealand Government and New Zealand Rugby have helped make that happen.”

Michael Hooper, who today was re-elected captain of the team in his first year with Rennie, is also optimistic about the fortnight on the inside, despite the brief change it generates for the first test in the capital.

The Wallabies will come out of quarantine about 24 hours before kickoff, but Hooper thinks it could be beneficial.

“We have no other distractions, we can prepare, we can stay together,” he says.

“We could say that being quarantined is going to be a good thing for us and that’s the way we’ll treat it. We’re used to traveling the day before a game … we’ve been traveling on game day for our Super comp so we’re accustomed “.

Hooper wore the captain’s armband for five years under former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, and while Rennie seeks to create a new culture, he didn’t see the need for a change in the captaincy.

“[Selecting him was] part of our thought process for a long time. He has played exceptionally well; I think it has been excellent for the Waratahs. He is also a great leader. “

While in quarantine, Hooper is eager to get the most out of his coach, who he says is well versed.

“Dave has been in about 30 quarantines so far, all over the world … with him at the front of the boat, he’s going to have a good idea of ​​how to get through.”

The Wallabies will land in Christchurch later this week after a training camp in Hunter Valley in New South Wales. Once they arrive, their schedule has already been settled, and Rennie says that she will have a relaxing start.

“[Arriving on Friday] It allows us on Sunday and Monday to review and have a lot of zoom meetings and so on, so we will use the time. “