9:04pm, 18 December 2021 <\/p>\n
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson is adamant trans-Tasman club rugby will go ahead in 2022 despite the growing threat of the Omicron virus.<\/p>\n
A decision on the future of the competition will be arrived at in the next few days according to Robinson, who spoke to media at Wellington alongside the codes end-of-year board meetings.<\/p>\n
We would like to get to a situation where we can replicate as closely as possible the original Pacific format, he said.<\/p>\n
Theres a few moving parts to that and a few different contingencies being worked through were down to having to make a call pretty soon.<\/p>\n
The scenarios that were talking about the moment all have an element of trans-Tasman (matches).<\/p>\n
Last month, Australian and Kiwi rugby chiefs released the Super Rugby Pacific draw including expansion franchises Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika with a kick-off date of February 18.<\/p>\n
Jacinda Arderns government then threw a spanner in the works with its border reopening plan, which requires all arrivals to self-isolate for seven days on arrival.<\/p>\n
The NZ government has repeatedly declined the idea of exemptions for sport but Robinson is clinging to the prospect, saying there was a huge amount of work going on with the government to get the competition happening.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 has already forced many changes to southern hemisphere rugby, including the last two Rugby Championships.<\/p>\n
In 2020, the Super Rugby season was suspended before being split into domestic competitions.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the South African and Argentinian sides went their own way and domestic competitions concluded with a mini trans-Tasman season.<\/p>\n
Given the NZ governments hyper-vigilance in the face of COVID-19 and its fear of the Omicron variant, trans-Tasman sport could be a long way from returning.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 has also smashed NZ Rugbys finances, which wore a $NZ34.6 million ($A32.7 million) loss last year.<\/p>\n
Robinson pre-empted another loss, saying wed like to think we get pretty close to breakeven.<\/p>\n
The former All Black is maintaining a pursuit of private equity investment from US firm Silver Lake, though his efforts have been stymied by the players association.<\/p>\n
The selling of a minority stake in the All Blacks is highly contentious among players and fans.<\/p>\n
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New Zealand Rugby 'close' to break-even this year after NZ$34.6mil loss in 2020 - RugbyPass<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 9:04pm, 18 December 2021 New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson is adamant trans-Tasman club rugby will go ahead in 2022 despite the growing threat of the Omicron virus. A decision on the future of the competition will be arrived at in the next few days according to Robinson, who spoke to media at Wellington alongside the codes end-of-year board meetings. We would like to get to a situation where we can replicate as closely as possible the original Pacific format, he said Continue reading