Former Wallaby Peter Fitzsimons believes the parties involved will find a way to ensure next weekend's third Bledisloe Cup test goes ahead.
Photo: Photosport Ltd 2021
The All Blacks are due to leave for Perth on Sunday, but anyone arriving in Australia from New Zealand must now self isolate for 14 days.
The Australian government has paused "green zone" flights from New Zealand due to the country's level four lockdown and growing number of community covid cases.
That means anyone flying from Aotearoa to Australia will now need to undergo two weeks in hotel quarantine.
The travel pause is currently scheduled to end on August 24, but it could be extended, with the Australian government reviewing it on Friday.
The Western Australia government has said the match may not be able to be held. However, Fitzsimons told RNZ he's confident the game will be played and said the Tokyo Olympics showed it can be done.
"Japan, Tokyo, has proven that it is possible to put something on in the middle of a pandemic, very successfully, with 3,500 people a day I think in Tokyo were getting infected (new Covid cases) and here in Perth there is zero a day, or one a day. So, I would be surprised if it (third Bledisloe Cup test) doesn't proceed one way or another.
Former Wallabies player Peter Fitzsimons. Photo: Photosport NZ
Exemptions for the All Blacks may be possible but New Zealand Rugby, Rugby Australia and Sanzaar are yet to determine whether that can occur.
It's understood Sanzaar are meeting tonight to try and decide where the third Bledisloe and remaining Rugby Championship matches will be played.
Other options include moving the game and series to Queensland, where Covid restrictions are less severe than WA, however the All Blacks would still have to quarantine.
The Western Australia rugby chief executive and former Wallabies hooker, Nathan Charles, hopes the third Bledisloe test, scheduled for Perth on August 28th and which doubles as a Rugby Championship match, will still go ahead despite the state's new quarantine requirements on visitors from New Zealand.
Charles believes there's precedent to allow the game to be played.
"We've got to be very agile in the current environment.
"It's happened with the AFL/NRL, all the major sporting codes, they've had to provide some flexibility, and with a game of this magnitude, I think there will have to be some sort of flexibility.
"What that looks like, I don't know."
Sam Whitelock and the All Blacks already have the Bledisloe Cup locked away for another year after winning the first two tests. Photo: Brett Phibbs/Photosport Ltd 2021
The Wallabies were granted an exemption when they came to New Zealand for the first two tests in Auckland.
However, the Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said he was not sure if the match can be held.
Maybe we have to work out some arrangement, or there may be a bubble, or they just have to comply with the rules that exist for everybody else.
"As the situation in New Zealand evolves, we are taking a cautious approach and will upgrade our border controls to keep Covid-19 out of our community," he said.
"We understand this may be frustrating for some travellers but with the increasing threat of Covid outbreaks in Australia, we must do all we can to keep the virus out of WA."
The WA state government has declared New Zealand "low risk" but introduced new rules after the country went into lockdown yesterday.
Anyone arriving from New Zealand must have a Covid-19 test on arrival and then on day 12.
They must also self-quarantine for 14 days.
-RNZ/ABC
