Sporting events in jeopardy under Auckland’s new Coronavirus lockdown

The season-ending weekend Super Rugby Aotearoa game between the Blues and Crusaders at Auckland's Eden Park appears to be in doubt with the New Zealand Government extending its lockdown of the city.

Auckland’s move into Alert Level 3 at noon on Wednesday, while the rest of New Zealand was elevated to Alert Level 2, appears likely to see the cancellation of the fixture.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is waiting on advise from the New Zealand Government before making a decision on Sunday’s Blues v Crusaders game along with the Highlanders v Hurricanes fixture scheduled for Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium.

NZR on Wednesday evening said it and its Super Rugby clubs were working through the impact of the COVID-19 announcement on this weekend’s matches.

The Highlanders are due to host the Hurricanes on Saturday evening and the Blues to play the Crusaders at a sold-out Eden Park in Auckland on Sunday afternoon.

The Crusaders, winners of the last three Super Rugby titles, have already been crowned champions of the domestic competition when they beat the Highlanders last week.

The lockdown has also seen Netball New Zealand cancel this weekend’s final round of the ANZ Premiership’s regular season while awaiting guidance on how finals day on 23rd August in Invercargill can proceed.

As of today, Eden Park is being utilised as a pop-up walk-in/drive-thru COVID-19 community testing centre with traffic managers and security contractors onsite to manage activity.

Eden Park has advised that its location and layout allows it to provide a safe environment for pedestrian ‘walk ups’ for tests.

Editor’s note/update: As of Saturday 15th August, the Blues v Crusaders has been cancelled while the Highlanders v Hurricanes fixture will go ahead without fans.