Rugby

Fans can attend Super Rugby return as New Zealand ends social distancing

Highlanders host the Chiefs on Saturday in the first match of a 10-week competition

Beauden Barrett is set to make his Blues debut against the Hurricanes on Sunday. Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty

Mon Jun 8 2020 - 10:50

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) said on Monday fans will be allowed into stadiums to watch the opening weekend of its domestic rugby union competition after the country lifted virtually all coronavirus restrictions.

Super Rugby Aotearoa, which involves New Zealand’s five Super teams, is the first professional rugby union competition to resume after governments imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"We're incredibly proud, and grateful, to be the first professional sports competition in the world to be in a position to have our teams play in front of their fans again," NZR Chief Executive Mark Robinson said in a statement.

There would be no restrictions on the size of crowds for the first weekend of matches at Otago Regional Stadium in Dunedin on Saturday and at Eden Park in Auckland on Sunday, NZR added.

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Health officials said there were no active infections left in the country and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the government would lift virtually all Covid-19 restrictions at 11:59 pm (12.59am Irish time) on Monday.

The Otago Highlanders host the Waikato Chiefs on Saturday in the first match of the 10-week competition, which was organised after the wider Super Rugby tournament, which also involves teams from Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Japan, was postponed due to pandemic.

Much of the focus will be on Sunday’s game in Auckland where All Blacks outhalf Beauden Barrett is expected to make his debut for the Blues when they host his former team, the Wellington Hurricanes, at Eden Park.

Barrett, who missed the initial stages of Super Rugby after taking an extended break following last year’s World Cup, moved to the Blues after nine seasons with the Hurricanes.

He had been expected to make his Blues debut against the Hurricanes on April 11th before Super Rugby was postponed in mid-March.

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