The All Blacks’ season has been plunged into turmoil after the government paused the quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for eight weeks.
The All Blacks are due to play three Bledisloe Tests against Australia at Eden Park on August 7, Perth on August 21 and Sky Stadium, Wellington, on August 28.
The chances of those Tests going ahead as planned are now uncertain, as the virulent Delta strain of the Covid-19 virus continues to spread in NSW and Victoria, while Queensland also recorded one local case on Friday.
However, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed there was an avenue the Wallabies might be able to utilise to travel to New Zealand.
They could travel to New Zealand within the seven day window returning Kiwis can utilise via an economic impact exemption.
“If there are significant economic issues that are brought up by the closure in that seven-day window that can be resolved than we have a delegated minister to work through any of those issues,” Ardern said.
READ MORE: Morgan Turinui’s Wallabies work-ons for Bledisloe
READ MORE: Koroibete free to play after controversial red card
READ MORE: France captain called out for ultimate rugby sin
“However, it must be in the seven-day window, we are not making exceptions outside of that. Everyone else has to go into quarantine.”
The bubble will pause from 11.59pm on Friday night, but there will be managed return flights over the next seven days to allow Kiwi citizens and residents to come home.
Those outside of Victoria and New South Wales will be able to get on these flights and not go through managed isolation – but everyone will need a negative pre-departure test.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
‘An absolute travesty’
Those in New South Wales will need to go through managed isolation while those in Victoria will be able to self-isolate at home, with similar testing requirements to those in managed isolation.
It’s understood that the bulk of the Wallabies squad remained in Queensland after their victory against France at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane last weekend.
Highlights: Wallabies vs France 3rd Test
This article was originally published on stuff.co.nz and is reproduced with permission
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
