Rugby Championship: New Zealand remain defiant over Christmas clause

New Zealand remains defiant on The Rugby Championship feud that threatens to cancel the competition.

New Zealand’s Rieko Ioane arrives for an All Blacks training session at FMG Stadium in Hamilton on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images

New Zealand remains defiant on The Rugby Championship feud that threatens to cancel the competition.

NZR chairman Brent Impey, who is also chairman of SANZAAR, reiterated the Kiwis’ position on Thursday, saying they never agreed to the December 12 Test against the Wallabies that is set to conclude the tournament in Sydney, because it would force All Blacks players to remain quarantined in a hotel on Christmas Day.

New Zealand media reported that “minutes” of a SANZAAR meeting on September 17 showed Kiwi officials were aware of the six-week draw announcement.

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News Corphas now seen the papers. They are notes of a meeting between SANZAAR chief executives, including NZR chief Mark Robinson, that states: “The draw as presented to the competition’s working group earlier for a six-week competition was accepted.”

In that meeting, Robinson resolved to push the New Zealand government to wind back their mandatory 14-day quarantine rules to 10 days. The draw’s announcement was to have been made on September 21, but was pushed back three days at the request of the Kiwis.

On September 24, NZR emailed SANZAAR partners saying they did not agree to the six-week tournament, but the other nations and NSW government officials were standing by to make the announcement of the draw from November 7 to December 12.

Impey was not part of that September 17 meeting when consensus was reached, and slammed the report citing the “minutes” of the SANZAAR meeting.

“It says a six-week draw was agreed by all, I can tell you that it wasn’t,” Impey said. “We know that, and Rugby Australia and SANZAAR know that, because we kept telling them right up until the time they announced the draw. The notes also quite clearly refer to an impasse, and there are many emails that prove this.

“Our focus is on trying to get the TRC issue sorted, and we’re not going to bother to engage in tit for tat on so-called notes, which weren’t minutes, and weren’t board minutes either.

“So we do challenge those that have made comments concerning NZR’s integrity, we defend our position, and we’re firm in it. There are emails I’ve seen that show New Zealand was never committed to a December 12 date, and tried to work through solutions. It’s also been confirmed that New Zealand never agreed to a December 12 match in Australia, that is my honest view.”

With Impey stating NZR is working to find “alternatives” for that final game, and not play on December 12 as broadcasters of TRC expect, there is a danger the tournament could collapse. Impey said paying the All Blacks players extra money to play on December 12 “is not a consideration”.

The Daily Telegraph