Queensland’s government will decide the fate of this year’s Rugby Championship on Monday, according to New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association (NZRPA) CEO Rob Nichol.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has received plenty of criticism from Rugby Australia and SANZAAR after they announced on Friday that they decided the All Blacks would not be travelling to Perth next week for their third Bledisloe Cup encounter with the Wallabies and they also cancelled two home Rugby Championship Tests with the Springboks.
But Nichol said he is confident a resolution to the Rugby Championship hosting dilemma will be found and that the All Blacks will take on the Wallabies in Perth on September 4.
“The parties are meeting tonight. They should by then have a response as to whether Queensland can host the Rugby Championship, but probably most importantly whether they can host South Africa and Argentina on a quarantine for two weeks where they can train,” he told Radio New Zealand.
“If that’s not able to be achieved, the Rugby Championship won’t be able to be held in Australia.
“Then the options are the UK and Europe or South Africa. With probably the UK and Europe the favoured one, but that’s a decision for Sanzaar to make.”
Nichol said the All Blacks will fly out to Perth this weekend as long as the rest of the Rugby Championship schedule is confirmed.
“If Queensland can host those two teams (South Africa and Argentina) and stage the Rugby Championship, you can almost guarantee the All Blacks will be straight on a plane at the end of the week and they’ll play that Test in Perth on the 3rd or 4th of September,” he added.
“Alternatively, if the Rugby Championship ends up in the UK and Europe or potentially South Africa and it’s confirmed, the same thing will happen because the All Blacks could go to Perth and play that Test and then Australia (Wallabies) and the All Blacks can get on a plane and go to wherever the rest of the Rugby Championship is.”
