Springboks won't feature in eight-team Nations Cup tournament

Printable View

11-09-20, 04:08
Ham105

Springboks won't feature in eight-team Nations Cup tournament
Very lightly pencilled in
- Autumn Nations Cup: 13 Nov to 6 Dec
- The Rugby Championship: 7 Nov to 12 Dec
Rugby: Springboks won't feature in eight-team Nations Cup tournament

1 hour ago
Reuters

Georgia has replaced Japan in the new eight-team Autumn Nations Cup competition in Europe in November, with the format and fixtures confirmed by organisers.

After the original November internationals were cancelled, due to coronavirus travel restrictions impacting the southern hemisphere nations, an 'alternative Six Nations', with Fiji and Japan added, was devised.

Japan also had to withdraw because of COVID-19 complications, which sparked speculation that South Africa would take part in the tournament, but organisers have opted for Georgia instead.

That leaves the Springboks to defend their Rugby Championship title, although where the competition will be hosted remains unclear, with New Zealand or Australia the likely destination from November 7-December 12.

The new Nations Cup will comprise two pools of four - Group A will feature England, Ireland, Wales and Georgia, with Group B comprising France, Scotland, Italy and Fiji.

The competition will be played over four weekends, starting November 14, when Ireland face Wales.

The competition will conclude on the weekend of the December 5-6, with a final round of matches that pits teams against the team ranked in the same position in the opposite pool.

Wales' home games are expected to be hosted at London venues, with the Principality Stadium still unavailable, after being used as a COVID-19 hospital.

Before that, the rescheduled games in the Six Nations will be played, with Ireland v Italy on October 25, and Wales v Scotland, Italy v England and France v Ireland on November 1.

"While the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic made the traditional Autumn test window unfeasible, we remained determined to deliver a unique and compelling tournament proposition, which would ensure world class rugby for our fans globally, and competitive matches for players, unions and federations," says Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel.

Whether fans are allowed to attend still remains unclear. England had hoped to have at least 20,000 at Twickenham, but new Government restrictions could make that unfeasible.

"We remain cautiously optimistic about the return of fans to the stadium," Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney says.

International matches are the main source of income for all the unions and they will be desperate to start selling tickets, after seeing their finances massively impacted by COVID-19 over the last six months

Reuters

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport...ournament.html
11-09-20, 08:49
Ham105

Possibly to be hosted in NSW

Blow for New Zealand as Australia pinch Rugby Championship

Liam Napier, NZ Herald,
11 Sep 2020, 10:27AM

Australia will be announced as this year's Rugby Championship hosts later today.

The Herald has been told that New South Wales has pinched the four nation tournament from New Zealand and it will be hosted from November 7.

Sanzaar, who initially said New Zealand was the preference to host the tournament, will make an official announcement on Friday afternoon.

Australia is believed to have secured the tournament on the basis of having superior quarantine regulations in regards to allowing teams to train while in isolation.

Australian federal and state governments are also thought to have stumped up to lure the tournament away from New Zealand.

Following three months of detailed planning, difficulties negotiating with the New Zealand Government around strict quarantine regulations for visiting teams had left NZ Rugby frustrated.

It is understood the need to isolate without training for a set number of days, and restrictions around the size of bubbles, were the major sticking points that swung the tournament in Australia's favour.

With both South Africa and Argentina yet to resume rugby in their respective countries, the ability to train as a squad from the day of arrival was a key selling point for Australia.

With Australia securing the rights to host the Rugby Championship, the Herald understands first two Bledisloe Cup matches will be pushed back one week and staged on October 17 and 24, likely to be in Auckland and Wellington.

The All Blacks would then venture to Australia for the Rugby Championship.

- more to come

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/sp...FMFsRnqOqh9bWw
11-09-20, 14:35
chiraag

WTF? Why would you choose NSW where you basically can't have a decent size crowd
11-09-20, 14:44
The InnFORCEr

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiraag

WTF? Why would you choose NSW where you basically can't have a decent size crowd

1. Perth had Bledisloe last year, we don't deserve another one for at least 10 or 20 years
2. Too much $$$ advantage would be gained by having it in WA two years in a row
3. It would be a sell out again and be an embarrassment to the heartlands.....again
4. They can use limited numbers as an excuse for not filling Sydney stadia
5. Junkets need to be kept as close to home as possible or nobody will be able to their noses into their troughs due to quarantine.

I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons.
11-09-20, 18:32
chiraag

Oh yeah sorry, my bad.

Every now and then I slip into the bad habit of trying to apply common sense and apparent good business decisions to what comes from RA!
11-09-20, 22:35
jargan83

Where else would it be held?
12-09-20, 07:39
Bakkies

Quote:

Originally Posted by jargan83

Where else would it be held?

Yeah. You can’t go to WA and there are standing contracts in NSW.
14-09-20, 10:14
Ham105

Rugby Union: Wallabies threaten to boycott Bledisloe Test over date

Wayne Smith, Senior Sport Writer
8:51PM September 13, 2020

No sooner had he announced his first Wallabies squad yesterday than coach Dave Rennie was warning that Australia would boycott the first Bledisloe Cup Test with the All Blacks rather than accept a situation where they were forced to play them less than a week out of quarantine.

The team announcement was stunning enough, with World Cup players Isi Naisarani, Tevita Kuridrani and Jack Dempsey all being left out of the 44-man squad for the two-Test series in New Zealand and the subsequent six-match Rugby Championship in Australia. But then Rennie dropped the real bombshell.

“NZ Rugby has an expectation that we jump on a plane the day after the Super Rugby final (next Saturday in Canberra between the Brumbies and the Queensland Reds), have two weeks in quarantine where we can’t prepare as a team and then play a Test seven days later,” Rennie said. “Under those quarantine arrangements, I can assure you we will not be playing a Test in NZ that weekend.”

It was Kiwi quarantine arrangements that caused NZ to lose the hosting rights of The Rugby Championship to Australia in November-December. The NZ government has decreed that overseas arrivals must spend three days isolated in a hotel room. Then, if they pass a COVID test, they are able to train in groups of 10, progressing over time to 15 and eventually 25. Meanwhile, the All Blacks can train without restrictions.

It would not be until October 5 — just five days before the scheduled First Test, presumably at the All Black fortress of Eden Park in Auckland — that the Wallabies would be able to reconvene as a full party. “We will have some of our young guys introducing themselves to some of our other Wallabies two weeks into our camp,” said Rennie. “So it is unacceptable. Like I said, we won’t be playing a Test under those sorts of conditions.”

Rugby Australia accepts that NZ is devastated by the decision by SANZAAR last Friday to strip them of The Rugby Championship and send it to Australia, but it does not believe the All Blacks would accept a comparable situation that so blatantly favoured the Wallabies in Australia.

“We are not going to get pushed around by them,” RA chairman Hamish McLennan told The Australian. “It is unfair on the players.”

For 16 members of the 44-man squad, those selected for the Wallabies for the first time, it would be a nightmarish introduction to international football. A further 13 have yet to play more than 10 Tests — players such as Jake Gordon and fellow Waratah Harry Johnson-Holmes have only a single cap — while eight members of the touring party only made their Super Rugby debuts this year.

Rennie did acknowledge, that some members of the squad might not play Test football this year.

Unlike New Zealand, which started its domestic Super Rugby Aotearoa three weeks ahead of Australia and then cut the competition off short, having no finals, Australia has not gathered as a single team this year. While the All Blacks have been free to train for the past month, the Australian players have been concentrating instead on Super Rugby duties.

It seems astonishing that Naisarani, one of the Rebels’ standout players against the Reds in the qualifying final on Saturday, has been left out of the side. He was the starting No 8 in the World Cup quarter-final against England last October and is a devastating ballrunner.

“We know what he is capable of, but we’ve picked on form and we’ve certainly talked about earning the right to play and we think others have played better,” Rennie said. “He has been given feedback throughout the comp and I spoke to him again this morning.”

Dempsey, a reserve backrower in that World Cup quarter-final, Kuridrani — a 61-Test veteran for the Wallabies — and Reds brilliant, if understated fullback Jock Campbell, received similar consolation phone calls, although Rennie did hold out the possibility of players being reprieved later this year in the event of injuries.

While All Black coach Ian Foster named Sam Cane as captain back in May, Rennie continues to remain mum on who will lead the Wallabies, indicating he wanted to bring the players together before announcing the skipper. Certainly Michael Hooper showed great leadership at the Waratahs — even if not officially the captain — and odds are he will retain the job.

While the Brumbies had 13 players selected, the Reds and Tahs 11 apiece and the Rebels nine, no one from the Western Force disappointingly was deemed up to standard. Certainly backrower Brynard Stander mounted a strong case during Super Rugby AU, as did midfielder Kyle Godwin, although Rennie named two uncapped centres in his squad, in Brumbies bolter Len Ikitau and the Reds’ Hunter Paisami.

Wallabies squad: Jermaine Ainsley, Allan Alaalatoa, Tom Banks, Angus Bell, Filipo Daugunu, Pone Fa’amausili, Folau Fainga’a, Jake Gordon, Ned Hanigan, Will Harrison, Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Michael Hooper, Tom Horton, Trevor Hosea, Len Ikitau, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Marika Koroibete, Noah Lolesio, Jack Maddocks, Tate McDermott, Fraser McReight, James O’Connor, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Hunter Paisami, Jordan Petaia, Matt Philip, Joe Powell, James Ramm, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Pete Samu, Rob Simmons, Irae Simone, Scott Sio, James Slipper, Lachie Swinton, Matt To’omua, Taniela Tupou, Jordan Uelese, Rob Valetini, Nic White, Harry Wilson, Liam Wright, Tom Wright.

Wayne Smith
Senior Sport Writer

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...ef6c0d2c3a6f8c