2020 Rugby Championship in Oz
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It's official.
GREEN LIGHT FOR 2020 TRI-NATIONS
The Springboks withdrawal from TRC means a Tri-Nations tournament will now take place in Australia between the All Blacks, Pumas and Wallabies.
SANZAAR has announced today that the South African team will not travel to Australia to play in The Rugby Championship 2020 against Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. Due to several factors, including South African government travel restrictions, player welfare and safety concerns, and the ongoing effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on South African players both in South Africa and across their various clubs in the UK and Europe, the Springboks will remain in South Africa.
The impact of this will see SANZAAR now reverting back to its original international competition format of the Tri-Nations, this time involving Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. SANZAAR and its stakeholders realise how hard this season has been due to the pandemic and it is an achievement in itself to get to a point where six international matches will be played in Australia across six consecutive weekends. The six-match Tri-Nations will see each team play each other twice ,with matches to be played in Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle.
SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos stated, “COVID is just a gift that keeps on giving! Naturally, it is extremely disappointing that the Springboks, due to the continued complexities of operating in and around this COVID environment, cannot fully compete in the previously planned six-round Rugby Championship. That said this now presents us with a unique opportunity, in this our 25th year, to close off 2020 with a SANZAR Tri Nations Competition.”
“SANZAR recognises the challenges and adversity that the national unions have had to face this year due to the pandemic. It is a tribute to the Unions in how they have been able to adapt and, dependent on COVID restrictions, run domestic competitions with the exception of Argentina who has been impacted the hardest through their lockdown. These short domestic tournaments, and in Argentina’s case no domestic competition, are not the normal lead into an international window, and while it has been a far from ideal preparation we look forward to an exciting and vibrant Tr-Nations tournament.”
“I would like to make special mention of Rugby Australia as hosts and the NSW Government who have shown great support and flexibility through this testing planning period. We have once again continued to be supported by all our broadcasters who have shown great patience and support of the sport as we endeavoured to deliver an international rugby tournament, that will now take the form of a Tri-Nations series,” added Marinos.
South African Rugby CEO, Jurie Roux, stated, "SANZAAR and Rugby Australia have bent over backwards to make the tournament happen and it would have been unfair on them and their partners and state government to delay a decision any longer. This is a hugely disappointing outcome for supporters and commercial partners but the on-going impacts of the pandemic in multiple dispensations mean we are unable to deliver a Springbok team without seriously compromising player welfare, apart from other logistical challenges.”
The first two matches involving Australia and New Zealand double up as the final two Bledisloe Cup matches.
Tri-Nations Match Schedule 2020
October 31: Australia v New Zealand (ANZ Stadium, Sydney)
November 7: Australia v New Zealand (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
November 14: New Zealand v Argentina (Bankwest Stadium, Sydney)
November 21: Argentina v Australia (McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle)
November 28: Argentina v New Zealand (McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle)
December 5: Australia v Argentina (Bankwest Stadium, Sydney) -
so have tickets for the double headers been sold, and were they priced as accordingly, or was it just a bonus having 2 teams?
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@Stargazer said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
South African Rugby CEO, Jurie Roux, stated, "SANZAAR and Rugby Australia have bent over backwards to make the tournament happen and it would have been unfair on them and their partners and state government to delay a decision any longer. This is a hugely disappointing outcome for supporters and commercial partners but the on-going impacts of the pandemic in multiple dispensations mean we are unable to deliver a Springbok team without seriously compromising player welfare, apart from other logistical challenges.”
What a cocksucker.
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@Derpus said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@Stargazer said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
South African Rugby CEO, Jurie Roux, stated, "SANZAAR and Rugby Australia have bent over backwards to make the tournament happen and it would have been unfair on them and their partners and state government to delay a decision any longer. This is a hugely disappointing outcome for supporters and commercial partners but the on-going impacts of the pandemic in multiple dispensations mean we are unable to deliver a Springbok team without seriously compromising player welfare, apart from other logistical challenges.”
What a cocksucker.
perfectly put
where is the game on the 24th? are they ruining my perfect weekend?
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@Derpus said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@Stargazer said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
South African Rugby CEO, Jurie Roux, stated, "SANZAAR and Rugby Australia have bent over backwards to make the tournament happen and it would have been unfair on them and their partners and state government to delay a decision any longer. This is a hugely disappointing outcome for supporters and commercial partners but the on-going impacts of the pandemic in multiple dispensations mean we are unable to deliver a Springbok team without seriously compromising player welfare, apart from other logistical challenges.”
What a cocksucker.
Yes.
So these professional players aren't staying fit / flexible / healthy? (Yes I know contact and match fitness count too, but there are ways to do that in Aus, warm up matches, contact training, etc).There are planes dumped all over the world doing nothing, so what are these logistical challenges? I'm free, I'll fly them to Aus. Pretty sure the hotels aren't exactly booked out too.
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The politics of COVID clear and simple.
Disappointing.
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@ACT-Crusader Certainly politics. Player welfare and logisitics I question.
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@mariner4life next Saturday was going to be epic. Selfish Saffas.
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@Bovidae said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
If, and it is still a big if, the Lions tour goes ahead next year the Boks will be seriously underdone. They won't have many options for teams to play in any warmup games either.
They won't care. It doesn't effect world ranking, and they'll make money no matter the results
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@Machpants said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@Bovidae said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
If, and it is still a big if, the Lions tour goes ahead next year the Boks will be seriously underdone. They won't have many options for teams to play in any warmup games either.
They won't care. It doesn't effect world ranking, and they'll make money no matter the results
Surely a loss by default still counts as a loss when it comes to world rankings.
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@Higgins said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@Machpants said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@Bovidae said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
If, and it is still a big if, the Lions tour goes ahead next year the Boks will be seriously underdone. They won't have many options for teams to play in any warmup games either.
They won't care. It doesn't effect world ranking, and they'll make money no matter the results
Surely a loss by default still counts as a loss when it comes to world rankings.
Nope, the lions aren't on the world rankings calculator. Same as the baa baas, etc. The system is as point taking system, winner takes points off the loser. Also makes it very hard for ABs to go top, even if they smash Arg and Oz in all the rest of the games, you get less points off winning over lower ranked Nations.
Edit ah lose by default. No, is based on results, otherwise we would have tumbled into 6 the or something after we 'drew' with Italy in the cup. Anyway no default, just adjusted schedule
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@Hooroo said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
How funny would it be if we won on Sunday, to retain Bled in the greatest of matches and then RC was canned and the AB's were released for the NPC! Happy days!
Even better if it's another draw.
Surely the loss of money will hurt the boks?
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@Bones said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@Hooroo said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
How funny would it be if we won on Sunday, to retain Bled in the greatest of matches and then RC was canned and the AB's were released for the NPC! Happy days!
Even better if it's another draw.
Surely the loss of money will hurt the boks?
The loss of money will hurt us all. Boks will get nothing, I guess, but not having those double headers (with RWC Champs and world No1) will cost millions in broadcast revenue. 4 Mill each Union I've seen thrown around
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@Snowy said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@ACT-Crusader Certainly politics. Player welfare and logisitics I question.
I don't know Snowy... I am at the front of the queue to shout about political interference. But I haven't seen much or heard much about it recently in SA rugby - certainly nothing around TRC.
Unless of course you refer to SANZAAR politics. In which case you could have a point.
Relationships seem to have soured a lot.For the record, I actually think player welfare is a factor.
Regarding logistics - I think this has more to do with quarantine requirements on both sides of the Indian Ocean than flights etc. although I commend your commitment to test rugby that you would volunteer to do the flying!As a post script: I have no idea what the latest is around quarantine both for arrival in Aus or the return back to SA - so of course I could be talking shit...
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@Billy-Webb Quarantine is all together in hotel and training ground in Oz for 2 weeks, like Arg are just coming up to the end of. Last thing I heard was SA was isolation at home for 2 weeks, but that was the procedure when they were first talking about Oz, dunno if it is still as nice as that. If so, not exactly onerous
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@Machpants thanks for clarifying. I consider myself better informed now. Knew someone on here could do the job for me.
So logistics.... maybe not so much of a factor then.
Except the 2 week quarantine on the return leg. Not so pleasant given the time of year. -
@Billy-Webb said in 2020 Rugby Championship in Oz:
@Machpants thanks for clarifying. I consider myself better informed now. Knew someone on here could do the job for me.
So logistics.... maybe not so much of a factor then.
Except the 2 week quarantine on the return leg. Not so pleasant given the time of year.Yeah but it is at home, if it is the same as was reported when Oz first got the tourny. Not that hard!
TBH SA have got a good home series, and they're going to focus on that. Unlike Arg who have nothing so absolutely have to come. It'll cost them some money and us too, the annoying thing is they didn't call it earlier when we could have avoided a lot of shit with ABs over XMas - I've been saying they ain't coming since the start.
But there is also a very sad, insercure, part which they care about ranking and stuff. Really that is lame, but it has been taken into account - mentioned by the officials, players and media. Where the balance is, ie what was the most important to the Boks, I don't know but it is sad the fact they could lose was taken into account. Great you're ranked #1 in the world, and will stay so for the longest time outside the ABs, but not having played another country for 2 years - it's a bit like USA Olympic Rugby Champs for a century!
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Boks will be praying Lions tour isn't cancelled...and that the 6N doesn't vote to exclude them...and the European cup. Would be disastrous for them, though I'd say NZ and Aus (and Arg) should be looking in the Pacific(Japan, US, Canada) as it's clear we can't rely on the Boks.
