All Blacks Tests 2020
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Ian Foster reveals the game the All Blacks wanted to play instead of the North v South match
Head coach Ian Foster has revealed multiple teams turned down invitations to take on the All Blacks.
The All Blacks’ first match of the year, against a Moana Pacific side at Mt Smart Stadium on October 3, is expected to be confirmed next week, but Foster divulged they had hoped to schedule an official test in the window between the end of Super Rugby Aotearoa and the start of the Mitre 10 Cup – only for nations to turn down their approaches.
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Increasingly looks like no All Blacks tests until July 2021 at best.
On top of the FOUR international games that most of the 6 Nations teams have already played in 2020. They will play NINE more international games before then. This is a self-imposed exile from international Rugby.
You can't blame the sponsors if their money drifts away to teams that actually play.
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@pukunui said in All Blacks Tests 2020:
Bugger, What are the Frenchies up to then?
The 8 Nations tournament in November. Four tests.
The 6 Nations tournament in February/March 2021. Five tests.
Meanwhile, NO ALL BLACKS tests are scheduled.
Then touring Oz in July 2021.
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I'll put this in here.
Welcome to the Warriors' and Phoenix's world...
A couple of important points:
RA is open to welcoming families into the Australian team's inner sanctum during camps for two possible Bledisloe weeks. Tests are likely on October 10 and 17, and there is also a proposed eight-week tour of New Zealand where the Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks and Pumas will form a bubble and play six games in six weeks.The first game in New Zealand is pencilled in on November 7 and the last on December 12. The later date could prove problematic for players as they may still be in quarantine on Christmas Day when they return to Australia.RA hopes to confirm Bledisloe fixtures by the end of next week. -
@Machpants said in All Blacks Tests 2020:
Foster is going to have a great record
It could be played none, won none, lost none, the way things are going.
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@Snowy said in All Blacks Tests 2020:
@Machpants said in All Blacks Tests 2020:
Foster is going to have a great record
It could be played none, won none, lost none, the way things are going.
Unbeaten first season!
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This post is deleted!
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12360395
Rugby: All Blacks could be forced abroad as Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Championship face fresh Covid-19 setbacks
Liam Napier
As New Zealand prepares to enter the crucial next stage of its Covid-19 response, the effects from the country's latest pandemic setback is set to be keenly felt by the All Blacks, as Liam Napier reports.
The All Blacks are expected to play the first two tests of Ian Foster's reign in Queensland in early October – a schedule that would require a one-month quarantine period and have major implications for a warm-up match against a Moana Pacific side and the Mitre 10 Cup.
The Herald has also learned New Zealand's planned hosting of the Rugby Championship from November 7 to December 12 has encountered further complications with the three foreign teams – South Africa, Argentina and Australia – unable to quarantine in this country at the same time.
Before the latest Covid-19 outbreak quashed the ability of crowds to attend matches, New Zealand Rugby had hoped to open the test season by hosting the first Bledisloe Cup match in Wellington on October 10.
The ever-evolving picture has forced constant change, however, with New Zealand's unstable Covid-19 situation ultimately expected to lead to the All Blacks now playing their first two tests in Queensland.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is taking 46 players and 18 staff for a two-week quarantine period at the five star Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast. The All Blacks are expected to follow suit next month, with the first test likely to take place at the Gold Coast's Cbus Stadium on October 10, followed by Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on October 17.
In this likely proposal both teams would then return to New Zealand and be forced to complete another two-week quarantine period before playing more Bledisloe tests and, in a best case scenario, the Rugby Championship.
That schedule would have major ramifications for the All Blacks' desire to stage a warm-up match against a Moana Pacific side which was originally planned for October 3 at Mt Smart Stadium.
New Zealand Rugby is understood to be working through details before confirming Bledisloe Cup fixtures, but should plans progress along these lines the All Blacks would need to depart New Zealand no later than September 25 in order to fulfil Queensland's two-week quarantine.
With the Mitre 10 Cup due to start on September 11, that leaves a one week window to play the planned warm-up fixture against the Moana Pacific side. The availability of All Blacks and leading Super Rugby players for all provincial teams will be dictated by this schedule.
While Queensland has quarantine facilities that allow teams the ability to train and prepare for test matches, New Zealand's preferred options are not believed to be at the same level.
Plans are in place for Rugby Championship teams to quarantine in Queenstown but it is understood all four teams, with the All Blacks returning from Australia, cannot satisfy the two-week period at the same time.
This will require a complicated staggered approach to teams arriving in New Zealand, and adds further doubt to the tournament getting off the ground.
New Zealand Rugby is conscious of the sacrifice the Springboks, Wallabies and Pumas would make as in the current Covid-19 climate they will be expected to quarantine through Christmas on their return home. In this case of the Wallabies, they would spend six weeks in isolation away from family and friends.
Argentina are believed to be open to arriving early and potentially playing warm up fixtures against willing provincial teams, but NZ Rugby will do their best to cater to all foreign Rugby Championship teams.
While crowds may not be permitted to attend any test fixtures in either Australia or New Zealand this year, the four Rugby Championship nations are confident they will generate enough revenue from broadcasters alone to ensure the complex travel and quarantine scenarios are worthwhile.
NZ Rugby's likely agreement to send the All Blacks to Australia next month would signal the smoothing of the relationship with their neighbouring counterparts after the expressions of interest process for Super Rugby next year turned sour when Rugby Australia were effectively asked to ditch as many as three teams.
Foster will name his maiden 35-man All Blacks squad on Sunday, September 6, the day following the North versus South match in Wellington.
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Interesting read here, with this incredible graph. We don't know how lucky we are as ABsupporters.
https://thechaserugby.com/2020/08/28/steinlager-north-v-south-preview/
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@nzzp Great article too.
Fingers Crossed:
SANZAAR boss 'very optimistic' about New Zealand's chance of hosting Rugby Championship
SANZAAR chief executive Andy Marinos has revealed he is very optimistic about the chances of New Zealand hosting the Rugby Championship in November and December.
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@Duluth said in All Blacks Tests 2020:
Reminds me of when Athens, Rio, New Delhi, insert city here "aren't going to be ready" for the Olympics or CWGs and Australia "has been asked to be ready "...
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