New Zealand provincial competition delayed

The opening two rounds of the Farah Palmer Cup will not go ahead as scheduled, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has announced today.

The North pool of the premier women’s competition was due to kick off next Saturday 22 August, with North Harbour hosting Waikato, Counties Manukau playing Bay of Plenty and Northland hosting Taranaki.

NZR Head of Women’s Rugby Cate Sexton said: “With Auckland-based teams unable to train or host matches for the next 12 days due to Level 3 restrictions, the decision has been made not to start the competition next weekend.

"We’ll now discuss with Provincial Unions and the Players Association around the different options for revising the draw. The Farah Palmer Cup is an exciting competition and we know our teams and fans are looking forward to it getting underway.”

The Farah Palmer Cup will be played in two pools split geographically with Northland, North Harbour, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki making up the seven-team North pool and Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Tasman, Canterbury and Otago in the South pool.

- New Zealand Rugby