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New Zealand's Super Rugby substitute takes another blow
By Online Editors
The latest announcements from the New Zealand government could undermine any chances that New Zealand Rugby had of setting up a competition to replace the suspended Super Rugby season.
Health Minister David Clark has announced that mass gatherings will be limited to 100 people when hosted indoors.
The government has further stipulated that, although schools, universities and workplaces are exempt from this ruling, it does apply to sporting and religious events.
Whether stadium-hosted events count as indoors or outdoors is unclear, but any chances of a replacement Super Rugby tournament getting off the ground will be cut off at the knees if matches are restricted to fewer than 100 people - even if the games are closed off to the public.
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According to Stuff, a crowdless Super Rugby game would still require around 150 people present at a stadium, including players, security and stadium support staff.
A domestic, fan-free competition between New Zealand's five Super Rugby franchises was seen as the potential saviour to the country's professional rugby season with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and key broadcaster Sky already both set to lose huge amounts of revenue thanks to coronavirus.
Stuff speculates that the franchises could ride out one season without the regular revenues coming in but if the pandemic were to settle in for more than 12 months then all bets are off.
The government's latest mass gathering ban could force NZR to pull the plug on any Super Rugby alternatives which could have disastrous consequences across the board, for the union, broadcasters and the players alike.
Expect to hear confirmation from NZR soon regarding the future of 2020's rugby season.
WATCH: Decade of the All Blacks looks back at New Zealand's involvement in the Tri-Nations over the preceding decade.
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Go to commentsYour poor framing of the incident in question leads me to believe you didn’t see it. Nor are you too familiar with the head contact process. The ref paid no heed to Crowley’s reaction; he was focused, as directed, on the incident itself, several angles of it replayed by the TMO on the big screen, and acted accordingly.
In any case, if you’ve ever received a head to the face, you might also put hand up to cradle it for a few mins. So your reaction here is, like this Devine chap, a bit hysterical.
Speaking of which, the irony of Devine’s comments is that - so I’ve read- he retired on medical advice due to repeated injury from concussions which he apparently still suffers from. Might explain why he got so emotional about it.
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