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Exclusive: Sanzaar considering shock Rugby Championship relocation
By Tom Vinicombe
While the bulk of the Rugby Championship was set to be played in Australia this year due to the ongoing impact of the global pandemic, RugbyPass understands that the competition is potentially set for a surprise relocation on the back of a Covid outbreak in New Zealand.
Sources have confirmed to RugbyPass that Sanzaar are weighing up shifting the Rugby Championship to Europe for the remainder of the competition, following the Springboks' match with Argentina this weekend.
Four double-headers are tentatively being planned for Paris, London, Dublin and Cardiff.
The lingering impacts of the pandemic forced an unusual scheduling set-up for 2021, with five matches planned for New Zealand, five for Australia and two for South Africa.
That draw was contingent on an ongoing travel corridor between Australia and New Zealand, however, which shut earlier this month due to a flare-up in New South Wales.
Four of the five matches in New Zealand were expected to be relocated to Western Australia until earlier this week, when the coronavirus reemerged in NZ. Australia have since closed any quarantine-free travel between the two neighbouring nations, which would make it exceptionally difficult for the competition to continue under the current schedule as the All Blacks are currently still at home in New Zealand, and their next Bledisloe Cup clash with the Wallabies is due to be played in nine days.
Limited stadium availability in Australia would also make it difficult to stage major matches over consecutive weekends, with Queensland currently playing host to the NRL and AFL matches already potentially lined up for Perth's Optus Stadium.
Currently, it's possible to travel from New Zealand and Australia to the UK via Singapore without any isolating required upon arrival in Europe, making the continent a potentially perfect host for the Rugby Championship.
Double-headers in the major rugby centres of Europe loom as incredibly tantalising for the respective Sanzaar unions from a commercial point of view and with the wider populations of the nations set to be involved already predominantly vaccinated, full crowds would be expected for the games.
In particular, the first game between the All Blacks and the Springboks will mark the 100th match between the two proud nations and would likely draw plenty of attention from fans across Europe.
The relocation would mark the second time that a Tri-Nations or Rugby Championship match had been played outside of the Sanzaar countries. In 2016, the Pumas 'hosted' the Wallabies at Twickenham, with Australia prevailing 33-21. In 2011, following the Christchurch earthquakes, a Super Rugby game between the Crusaders and Sharks was also played at Twickenham.
With the first round of the Australia-based portion of the Rugby Championship scheduled for next weekend, Sanzaar are expected to make an announcement regarding plans for the remaining matches of this year's Rugby Championship competition shortly.
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Latest Comments
John, McKenzie was 10 years ago and he only lasted 15 months until the disgustingly unfair affair that brought him down. I thought that if he didn't get another gig over Eddie V2 then he was done. I read that he had been approached but declined to put his name in the ring.
There are no potential Wallaby coaches outside of McKellar unless you have some inside info?
Go to commentsThe way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.
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