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Super Rugby matches in Australia to be played behind closed doors

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Rugby Australia has today confirmed that three Vodafone Super Rugby and two Buildcorp Super W matches scheduled to be played in Australia this weekend will proceed as scheduled, and that members and fans will be welcome to attend the matches as normal.

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As the situation with regards to Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve in the country, the Australian Government today announced that it had moved to a position to advise against organised non-essential gatherings of 500 people or more from Monday, March 16.

The Queensland Reds will host the Bulls (South Africa) at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday night as part of a Super Rugby double-header after the Sunwolves (Japan) play the Crusaders (NZ) in a match that was relocated from Tokyo. Then, on Sunday in Canberra, the Brumbies and NSW Waratahs are set to do battle at GIO Stadium.

Buildcorp Super W matches will also go ahead as scheduled across the weekend with NSW Waratahs Women facing RugbyWA Women on Saturday in Sydney, and Brumbies Women hosting Queensland Reds Women in Sunday’s double-header in the nation’s capital.

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In line with the advice from the Government, all Vodafone Super Rugby and Buildcorp Super W matches in Australia beyond the upcoming round will be played in closed venues until further notice. There are no current plans by Rugby Australia or SANZAAR to cease international travel, however travel advice will be monitored closely over the coming days and weeks.

Rugby Australia, RUPA, and the four Vodafone Super Rugby teams agreed to the plan on a teleconference this afternoon following the Government’s announcement.

Rugby Australia Chief Executive, Raelene Castle said: “This is a position that no one in our game wanted to be in, but we have made this decision in line with the Government response to this ongoing global health issue and in the best interests of our players, members and fans.

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“The Prime Minister made it clear in his address to the media this afternoon that the Government’s advice is a staged response to this issue and that by Monday the next stage of their response is to advise against non-essential large gatherings.

“We are confident from this advice that there is no significant or imminent health risk to our athletes or fans for the weekend’s matches. At all times, any decision we make is with the health and welfare of those people front of mind.

“As this situation is evolving constantly, we will continue to review our position on a daily basis.”

– Rugby Australia

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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