Rugby: New Zealand Rugby confident to bring All Blacks home for Christmas

New Zealand Rugby Chief Mark Robinson remains optimistic about the prospects of bringing home the All Blacks players involved in the Rugby Championship in time for Christmas.

On Thursday, this year’s Covid-affected tournament matches were announced by Sanzaar and Rugby Australia (RA) and appeared to have dealt a blow to New Zealand Rugby (NZR) by not giving players enough time to return to their families to time for the festive season.

As it stands, New Zealand players and management will not be home in time for Christmas Day due to the final test between the All Blacks and Wallabies to be played in Sydney on December 12.

If the All Blacks return home a day later, the earliest they will see their families after the standard fortnight of quarantine is December 27.

The announcement appeared to have taken NZR by surprise and Robinson admitted to the media that the organization had made all its plans based on a final game for the All Blacks on December 5.

Despite the setback and constant tension between the organizations involved, Robinson told Martin Devlin at Newstalk ZB on Saturday that he remains optimistic that a happy solution can be found for this particular problem.

“I think we can work it out … from our perspective, and I’m sure Australians are the same, there’s not much to gain by looking back over the last six, 10, 12 weeks.”

“This topic, as it relates to this specific tournament and the challenge of getting the team home before Christmas, is a completely separate topic from all the other narratives that have been presented.

“I am very encouraged to hear the feedback from Rugby Australia over the last two days, they are very committed to trying to find a solution to this, so that the All Blacks will come home before Christmas.”

Robinson indicated that NZR is preparing multiple proposals to bring Sanzaar and RA, who they believe are open to compromise.

“I think they are showing intent through their public comments just as we are, and as we are through the dialogue we’ve had since Thursday via email, about trying to signal that we are looking to put some solutions on the table shortly. “

Rugby Championship 2020 Schedule

First round – Saturday, November 7, 2020

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Argentina v South Africa
Australia in New Zealand

Second round – Saturday, November 14

Bankwest Stadium, Sydney

New Zealand v Argentina
South Africa v Australia

Third round – Saturday, November 21

ANZ Stadium, Sydney

New Zealand v South Africa
Australia vs Argentina

Fourth round – Saturday, November 28

McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle

Argentina vs Australia
South Africa v New Zealand

Fifth Round – Saturday, December 5

Bankwest Stadium, Sydney

Argentina v New Zealand
Australia vs South Africa

Sixth round – Saturday, December 12

ANZ Stadium, Sydney

South Africa v Argentina
Australia in New Zealand