Confirmed: New Zealand Rugby announce details for North v South match

The North v South clash will be played at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Photo / Getty

The North v South match has been confirmed for Wellington's Sky Stadium on Saturday 5 September, and it will be played without a live crowd.

The news follows the Government's announcement this week on Covid-19 Alert Levels, with Auckland remaining at Level 3 until this Sunday night and Wellington and the rest of the country will remain at Level 2 until Sunday 6 September.

Under Level 2 guidelines, the North v South match will have to be played with no crowd in attendance.

NZR head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said: "We're delighted that the match can go ahead in Wellington, but obviously it's a shame that it'll have to be played without fans in the stands. That said, we're fully supportive and understanding of the Government's health and safety recommendations regarding Covid-19."

The North v South clash will be played at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Photo / Getty

The match was originally scheduled for Eden Park on 29 August and fans who bought tickets to the match will be refunded via ticketing agency Ticketmaster.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 7.10pm.

The North and South squads will assemble in Wellington on Monday to prepare for the match.

The game was initially thrown into jeopardy as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak in Auckland a fortnight ago, and the resulting sudden switch to alert level 3 in Auckland, and level 2 in the rest of the country.

Last week, New Zealand Rugby confirmed the match original scheduled to be played in Auckland on August 29, was postponed by a week after the news that the 14 Auckland-based players in the North squad, as well as five support staff, had not been granted an exemption to leave Auckland.

If Auckland comes out of level 3 on Monday as expected, those players will be able to join the rest of the squads in Wellington on Monday to prepare for the match in the capital.

Meanwhile, the Farah Palmer Cup and Mitre 10 Cup competitions will go ahead as scheduled, with the Farah Palmer Cup kicking off on Saturday 5 September and the Mitre 10 Cup the following weekend.

The North and South squads (and the player's first province played for) are as follows:

NORTH SQUAD

Hookers:

Asafo Aumua (Wellington), Ash Dixon (Hawke's Bay) and Kurt Eklund (Auckland).

Props: Alex Fidow (Wellington), Ayden Johnstone (Waikato), Angus Ta'avao (Auckland), Karl Tu'inukuafe (North Harbour) and Ofa Tuungafasi (Auckland).

Locks: Scott Scrafton (Auckland), Patrick Tuipulotu (Auckland and captain) and Tupou Vaa'i (Taranaki).

Loose forwards: Lachlan Boshier (Taranaki), Akira Ioane (Auckland), Dalton Papalii (Auckland), Ardie Savea (Wellington) and Hoskins Sotutu (Auckland).

Halfbacks: TJ Perenara (Wellington), Aaron Smith (Manawatu) and Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (Taranaki).

First five-eighths: Beauden Barrett (Taranaki).

Midfielders: Rieko Ioane (Auckland), Anton Lienert-Brown (Waikato) and Peter Umaga-Jensen (Wellington).

Outside backs: Caleb Clarke (Auckland), Mitchell Hunt (Auckland), Damian McKenzie (Waikato), Sevu Reece (Waikato) and Mark Telea (North Harbour).

SOUTH SQUAD

Hookers: Liam Coltman (Otago), Andrew Makalio (Tasman) and Codie Taylor (Canterbury).

Props: George Bower (Otago), Alex Hodgman (Canterbury), Nepo Laulala (Canterbury), Tyrel Lomax (Tasman) and Joe Moody (Canterbury).

Locks: Mitchell Dunshea (Canterbury), Manaaki Selby-Rickit (Southland) and Samuel Whitelock (Canterbury and captain).

Loose forwards: Tom Christie (Canterbury), Shannon Frizell (Tasman), Dillon Hunt (Otago), Reed Prinsep (Canterbury) and Tom Sanders (Canterbury).

Halfbacks: Finlay Christie (Tasman), Mitchell Drummond (Canterbury) and Brad Weber (Otago).

First five-eighths: Josh Ioane (Otago) and Richie Mo'unga (Canterbury).

Midfielders: Braydon Ennor (Canterbury), Leicester Faingaanuku (Tasman), Jack Goodhue (Canterbury) and Sio Tomkinson (Otago)

Outside backs: Jordie Barrett (Canterbury), George Bridge (Canterbury) and Will Jordan (Tasman).

A number of players were unavailable for selection due to injury, including 2019 All Blacks Dane Coles, Scott Barrett, Sam Cane and Ngani Laumape.