The Wallabies will play the All Blacks twice in two weeks at Eden Park in Auckland to open the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship series. The first match will be played this Saturday, August 7, with the second Test scheduled for the same ground on Saturday, August 14. The third trans-Tasman encounter will be played in Perth at Optus Stadium on Saturday, August 28. Initially, the schedule had the sides playing all blacks pumas rugby game on tv free in Perth on August 21, before the third encounter in Wellington on August 28. Those plans were thrown into turmoil following COVID-19 outbreaks in Australia forcing the New Zealand government to pause its trans-Tasman travel bubble. The two South Africa versus Argentina matches remain as per schedule with both to be played in Port Elizabeth on August 14 and 21 respectively.
Click Here to Watch Live
The New Zealand government's travel bubble closure means the All Blacks' scheduled Rugby Championship matches against Argentina and South Africa in New Zealand will now be played in Australia. Dates and venues for both of thoe matches will be announced at a later date. "Once again, the pandemic threw us a challenge in terms live stream all blacks pumas rugby game of our match schedule but we are delighted that a solution has been found for the two Australia versus New Zealand matches despite the restrictions on travel between the two countries," SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris said this week. "The All Blacks and Wallabies will play back-to-back weekends in Auckland with the second match on Saturday 14 August being the opening round of The Rugby Championship. "New Zealand will now travel to Australia for the return match in Perth on Saturday 28 August. "We realise this is a week later than originally scheduled for Perth rugby fans with tickets but the pandemic and changing government health and travel regulations now in place have made our task difficult. "SANZAAR also understands the disappointment for Wellington rugby fans who will now miss out on New Zealand versus Australia and New Zealand versus Argentina matches due to the rescheduling." "We now turn our attention to the remaining eight scheduled matches. We continue to monitor the pandemic and government and health authority regulations, and are currently working through several options for these matches if any changes are required, including the New Zealand versus Argentina matches." The Wallabies have announced Marika Koroibete, Pone Fa’amausili and Isi Naisarani will not be considered for selection for this Bledisloe match. The Rebels trio have been reprimanded after they breached team protocols following a team dinner. They were found to have been drinking alcohol well beyond an agreed time prior to a training-free day. "We are building a culture of working hard for each other and being accountable for our actions," Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said in a statement. “On this occasion, these three players haven’t lived up to that and we’ve taken a very clear stance. “Ultimately these three men have paid a big price for their decisions but that’s the standard we expect of each other.” Wellington will miss out on hosting a rugby test this year - costing the local economy millions of dollars. NZ Rugby confirmed Tuesday that the All Blacks will play the Wallabies in back-to-back tests in Auckland on August 7 and August 14 – Wellington was originally scheduled to host a Bledisloe Cup test on August 28 – and will also play their two Rugby Championship tests against Argentina in Australia. This is not only bad news for All Blacks fans in Wellington. It also means the Wallabies, who have not won in Auckland since 1986, now face a daunting task to reclaim the trophy in the three-test series. While Auckland’s Eden Park was always scheduled to host a test this weekend, the other Bledisloe Cup game to played in New Zealand was inked in for Wellington.
No comments:
Post a Comment