SANZAAR refuse to give up on Rugby Championship as new details revealed about potential 2020 tournament
SANZAAR bosses haven't given up on staging a full Rugby Championship this year and say it could unfold inside an Australian eastern seaboard bubble.
Despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, chief executive Andy Marinos wants the Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks and Pumas all involved in a Rugby Championship starting in October.
Marinos told stuff.co.nz the tournament could run through to December if travel and health restrictions can cater for an eight-week window.
Australia and New Zealand are the likeliest destinations, with the pandemic having taken hold in South Africa and Argentina, preventing any rugby being played since Super Rugby was halted in March.
Western Australia has been touted as a possible "bubble" host for every game but Marinos said Sanzaar would look more closely at the opposite coast.
"If we were going to create any bubbles we would certainly be looking at the eastern seaboard of Australia for that," Marinos said.
"T hat's not to say we couldn't play a game in Perth, but I think there's a greater concentration of players, if we were to do that - it would be on the eastern seaboard.''
A schedule must work in with a potential four-match Bledisloe Cup series which is thought to include an opening Test in Wellington on October 10 - probably falling outside the Rugby Championship window.
Meanwhile, Marinos again quashed numerous reports that Super Rugby will be overhauled from 2021, including the shedding of teams from South Africa and Argentina.
"I have actually been quite bemused by it all because it is more just coming out of certain sectors within New Zealand around not wanting to play in South Africa and wanting to do their own thing,'' he said.
"It just seems to be a bit of a chorus in this part of the world (Australasia)."
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I so wish we could use BIG words here to say what an absolute %^$# this guy is, but we can't so I won't.
Go to commentsGet world rugby to buy a few Islands in the Mediterranean. Name them Rugby Island #1, #2, #3 etc. All teams are based there all season and as the knockouts progress, losers go home for a few months rest. Sell the TV rights to any and all.
Have an open ballot/lottery each week to fly fans out to fill the stadiums. They get to enter the draw if they pay their taxes and avoid crime which would encourage good social engagement from rugby supporters as responsible citizens. The school kids get in the draw if they are applying themselves at school and reaching their potential.
Or maybe there is some magic way to prioritise both domestic rugby and international rugby by having the same players playing for 12 months of the year...
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