The All Blacks will not compete on home soil for the remainder of the Rugby Championship following a national lockdown in New Zealand.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) said in a statement it had made the decision not to send the All Blacks to Perth this weekend for the third Bledisloe Cup Test scheduled to take place on August 28.
Matches hosting the Boks in Dunedin on September 25 and in Auckland at Eden Park on October 2 have also been cancelled.
NZR said the All Blacks would remain at home until the fixtures in question have been rescheduled to work around coronavirus restrictions.
“Given the uncertainty, it makes sense to pause and get more clarity on these fixtures,” NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said.
“We remain 100 percent committed to playing in the entire Rugby Championship in 2021 and are working closely with Sanzaar to look at a range of options to reschedule these important matches.”
The Test between the All Blacks and the Springboks on September 25 would have been the 100th meeting between the All Blacks and South Africa.
“We share the disappointment of our fans, players and other stakeholders… the sold-out 100th Test between the All Blacks and South Africa was shaping up as a very special occasion,” Robinson said.
New Zealand this week went into a national lockdown after a case of the Covid-19 Delta strain, which spread from Australia, was detected. A similar Covid outbreak in New South Wales has also seen the closing of the travel corridor between Australia and New Zealand.
According to reports, the latest travel restrictions could see Sanzaar shift the Rugby Championship to Europe for the remainder of the competition, but to date, nothing has been confirmed.
