Hurricanes Super Rugby Pacific match in opposition to Moana Pasifika postponed

Saturday’s Super Rugby Pacific match between the Hurricanes and Moana Pasifika in Wellington has been postponed.

It was introduced on Thursday morning that the round-four fixture at Sky Stadium, which was slated to kick off at 4.35pm, won’t go forward resulting from rising Covid-19 instances within the Hurricanes’ camp.

On Monday, Hurricanes assistant coach Chris Gibbes had confirmed the squad had been coping with Covid instances, after captain Ardie Savea had revealed so in a post-match interview after final Saturday evening’s win over the Highlanders within the capital.

The postponement was made on the recommendation of the Super Rugby Pacific Medical Advisory Group that the Hurricanes squad didn’t have sufficient gamers to type a match-day 23.

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NZR normal supervisor skilled rugby and efficiency Chris Lendrum mentioned it was disappointing for each groups, however notably Moana Pasifika who had been coping with their third postponed match of the season.

“Every effort was made to play this match but despite looking at replacement player options the number of players affected by Covid was simply too great to overcome and the right decision has been reached,” he mentioned in a press release.

“We are supporting the Hurricanes as much as we can as they deal with a large number of players being unavailable, while it is obviously disappointing for Moana Pasifika who were itching to play again after finally getting their season underway last week.

“On a brighter note we are very close to confirming the rescheduling of Moana Pasifika’s previous two postponed matches against the Blues and Chiefs and are confident we can also reschedule the Hurricanes match later in the season.”

It makes for a double blow for the Hurricanes after their girls’s workforce had already this week been scratched from their Super Rugby Aupiki opener because of the quantity of Covid instances of their ranks, too.

After pulling out of a pre-season hit-out final weekend, the Hurricanes Poua on Monday withdrew from Thursday’s round-one conflict in opposition to the Blues in Hamilton.

Hurricanes chief government Avan Lee mentioned the postponement capped off a tricky couple of weeks for the franchise.

“We were obviously gutted for our Hurricanes Poua squad when they had to pull out of their inaugural match and now our men’s team are dealing with their own disappointment, so I guess it shows how widely Covid is affecting people right now,” Lee mentioned in a press release.

“We obviously wanted to play, and I really feel for the staff and players. On the bright side, this is merely a postponement and we’re looking forward to taking on Moana Pasifika later in the season at home here in Wellington, and most importantly, welcoming our members, fans and partners back to our house.

“We are also disappointed for Moana Pasifika who have already had to deal with this situation twice this season. We’d like to thank them for their understanding, and we look forward to meeting them later in the season.”

Moana Pasifika chief government Pelenato Sakalia mentioned in a press release:

“Dealing with Covid is extremely complicated and it is important that the focus shifts to the health and well-being of the Hurricanes team. Under the circumstances postponing the game is the right decision and Moana Pasifika wishes the Hurricanes team a speedy recovery and look forward to meeting on the field soon.”