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Rescheduled NPC set to resume outside of Auckland next week

06 Sep 2021

(Photo by Evan Barnes/Getty Images)

New Zealand Rugby [NZR] has confirmed the NPC, Farah Palmer Cup [FPC] and Heartland Championship, outside of Auckland, will recommence from Friday 17 September.

Confirmation of the re-start date for New Zealand’s three national domestic rugby competitions comes following the Government’s announcement on Monday that all of New Zealand apart from Auckland, will move down to COVID Alert Level 2 from tomorrow (Wednesday, 8 September).

At Alert Level 2, teams at all levels of rugby can safely return to training from tomorrow, but NZR has stipulated that matches will not resume until Friday 17 September, to ensure players have sufficient time to safely prepare for a return to play.

How the All Blacks clean swept the Wallabies, the rise of the Ioane brothers and Jordie Barrett’s red card | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

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How the All Blacks clean swept the Wallabies, the rise of the Ioane brothers and Jordie Barrett’s red card | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

NZR is making plans for Auckland, North Harbour and Counties Manukau NPC teams to play catch-up matches later in the season, subject to them moving to Alert Level 2. The Auckland region remains at COVID Alert Level 4 until at least 11.59PM Tuesday 14 September.

NZR will release a revised draw for the NPC, FPC and Heartland Championship in due course.

NZR general manager of community rugby Steve Lancaster said it is great to be able to provide some certainty for players, fans and stakeholders.

“It’s great to be in a position where our teams and fans can look forward to some rugby again,” he said.

“Although we’d love to get everyone back out there this weekend, player safety must be our number one priority, so we have built in a week for our teams to prepare before they return to the field.

“And importantly, with play resuming next weekend, we are planning to play the full schedule of matches in all three competitions, with later completion dates for each.

“We know it’s a tough situation for everyone in Auckland, but we are taking a positive view that the Alert Levels will go down and we are making contingency plans for Auckland, North Harbour and Counties Manukau to re-join the competitions with minimal disruption when they are able.

“We thank all three of our Auckland-based unions for their understanding and support in resuming these competitions while they remain at Alert Level 4.”

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YeowNotEven 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Would have been awesome to have a Bledisloe ANZAC game.

It would suck if they had it in Perth every year though. Gotta get it to Eden park.

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David Gomiez 1 hour ago

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Spew_81 1 hour ago

Hurricanes vs Waratahs takes: The yellow wall in midfield, Tahs backs outshined

Love should get some time at 10. He’s clearly got the ability to be a second playmaker, but primarily at 15. Some time at 10, even just standing at first receiver, will only help his playmaking skills. He set up two tries with good distribution.

He kicks goals well. He could be a second B Barrett. But keep his main position at 15.

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SG 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

England have absolutely no need for him. Tom Willis and Ben Earl are better with a much higher work rate.

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Thomas Walsh 1 hour ago

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JW 2 hours ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

No full games on the IRU YT channel unfortunately, all on subscription? Looks a fairly good level (1A).

Yes I mean I wouldn’t really know the local ratio of origin here, but certainly as a province with less resources mine has a ratio that veers heavily towards club rep. The club stories are often the best so get probably an imbalanced proportion of coverage to where most players actually come from though.

Those were a couple of Ulster (regional) clubs too, good good. Those clubs/size towns are very much where you find most talent coming from (compared to the big city), so your productivity depends very much on your systems in place for scouting talent. With the more wealthy and popular sport of NRL (hence more info out there) I’ve seen some interesting studies on player origins in this respect, which I think would be a very balanced base of data to draw conclusions from.

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GP 2 hours ago

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Regarding the Crusaders side . Great to see promising young lock Jamie Hannah back in the starting team. He has certainly been through the mill since debuting for the Crusaders, even before playing for Canterbury. All his hard work has paid off. Antonio Shalfoon , who has been rested for this match has been amazing locking with AB captain Scott Barrett. I really rate Jamie Hannah as one of the best young locks of which there are a few coming through. Including his Canterbury and Crusaders team mate Liam Jack. Father is Graham Jack ,he played for Canterbury and the Crusaders in the 1990’s. Older brother of Chris, who of course was an All Black.

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Andrew Nichols 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Gloucester are in the market for a top-class replacement ..Well why would they then be talking to HS?

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Utiku Old Boy 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

I include Cunningham-South. He was born in England but moved to NZ at 4 yrs and learnt his rugby there. His dad was a schoolboy coach. In recent years, Teimana Harrison was - as was Brad Shields.

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GB 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Cunningham-South was born in the UK but raised in NZ.

Makes a good point, wouldn't walk into the English set up.

Better to roll his sleeves up and play himself into the ABs

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Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Not sure what the ethical issue is. If it’s going for the money, it’s either do that or NZ rugby slowly dies as all the better players leave. So it’s the more lesser of two evils. Sell out a bit more as a Union, or the players sell out one by one.

42 Go to comments

Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes, the team was similar. But the two locks made a huge difference. Kaino wasn’t a lock and Tuipolutu has only very recently started playing close to his potential (his work rate was terrible until recently).

The Irish lineout maul wouldn’t have been the weapon it was on that day if Hansen started Whitelock and Retallick (or even two proper locks). Though they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

Doing the new haka when the Irish were mourning a great of theirs didn’t help. The action at the end of that haka has been interpreted negatively and some see it as a but disrespectful.

Still if the All Blacks did their normal haka they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

42 Go to comments

Koro Teeps 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Absolutely no certainty he would make the current English squad. He’s not in the All Black conversation either. Physical, explosive player with ball in hand but sometimes struggles to impose himself fully on all aspects of the game.

7 Go to comments

DC 3 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Who are the Kiwis (plural)? The only one I can think of is Ethan Root.

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Gradier Walter 4 hours ago

Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders