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Rugby Australia says they are not to blame for the Rugby Championship schedule which could leave the All Blacks quarantined in a hotel over Christmas.
New Zealand is crying about playing the final game of the six-week tournament, a Bledisloe Cup tryout against the Wallabies in Sydney, on December 12.
Under current New Zealand government guidelines, players must be quarantined for two weeks when they get home, which means they won’t be out in time to spend Christmas with their families.
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Rugby Australia and Rob Clarke are not to blame for the All Blacks’ Christmas plight.
New Zealand Rugby issued a statement shortly after the announcement of the draw on Thursday saying they believed the last All Blacks game would be on December 5.
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“We have not agreed to this timeline and we are disappointed with the announcement,” said NZR CEO Mark Robinson.
“We understand business considerations in programming. However, the well-being of our people is an incredibly important factor in this as well.”
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Mark Robinson has to improve the relationship with Australia, which has regressed in its turn.
Even New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern chimed in and said there was an agreement on the set timetable.
“There was an agreement that those games would conclude on December 6 and if everyone sticks to that then it wouldn’t be a problem,” Ardern said of the possible quarantine.
Australia was already on New Zealand’s bad books after pinching hosting rights, but RA chief Rob Clarke said the six-week schedule wasn’t his fault.
The other competing nations, world champions South Africa and Argentina, are believed to have pushed for a longer tournament.
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The All Blacks will have to choose between Christmas with their families or playing in the Rugby Championship.
“On two formal occasions, Rugby Australia supported modifying the draw so that the Rugby Championship could be played for five weeks … both times that proposal was rejected, meaning there was never an agreement to end the tournament on Saturday December 5, 2020, “Clarke said in a statement.
He said RA would do everything possible to ensure the All Blacks avoided spending Christmas in quarantine and hoped that with more than two months to go before the December 12 game a solution could be found.
According to the organizing body Sanzaar, it appears that the solution depends on the New Zealand government relaxing the quarantine.
“December 12 is a problem for New Zealand, but we have exhausted all other options and only one at its furthest point: working on the best way to manage the quarantine,” Sanzaar chief Andy Marinos said at the calendar announcement in Sydney.
Marinos said they were looking for options that include tighter bubbles that could allow the New Zealand government to relax quarantine laws for All Blacks.
“If we put them in an isolation bubble for the last week to try to help any kind of quarantine on the other side,” he said.
Marinos ruled out condensing the schedule to try to fit six tests in a five-week block, citing an increased risk of serious injuries as seen in the NRL this season.
The schedule sees the Bledisloe Cup events as the completion of the tournament, which begins at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on 7 November.
The competition will be played over six double-headed matches, with all but the first round in New South Wales.
ANZ Stadium and Bankwest Stadium will host two rounds each, while one will be played at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Saturday 28 November.
