NZR General Manager Community Rugby Steve Lancaster said all three of NZR’s domestic competitions will be affected in some way following the announcement that Auckland and Coromandel will move to Alert Level 4 for seven days, and the remainder of the country for three days.
“We know there is going to be some disruption, but we won’t know exactly what that looks like until we have consulted with our Provincial Unions. Clearly matches in Auckland will be affected under the current deadline, so we will need to look at our options,” Lancaster said.
NPC and FPC matches scheduled at North Harbour Stadium on Friday would be clearly be affected, while Lancaster also noted the ability of all teams to train together, and to travel to and from matches, would be restricted.
“The health and safety of our people is paramount and will guide our decisions. Clearly we may need to reschedule a number of matches, so we will consult our affected Provincial Unions and go from there.”
Round 3 of the Bunnings Warehouse NPC and Round 6 of the Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse were scheduled to kick off at North Harbour Stadium on Friday, while the first round of the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship is due to kick off on Saturday.
All Blacks
Meanwhile, NZR Chief Executive Mark Robinson said NZR was also keeping a watching brief on the situation, with regard to the All Blacks, who are scheduled to fly out for Perth on Sunday.
“All our players are currently on a family break until their scheduled departure to Perth. We will be guided by Government travel guidelines and any potential border restrictions in Australia while working closely with SANZAAR and Rugby Australia in coming days to understand what the impact is on our plans.”