Sky Super Rugby Transtasman: Highlanders confident clash with Rebels will proceed despite suspension of Victoria travel bubble

The Highlanders are confident their upcoming Super Rugby transtasman match against the Rebels will go ahead as planned this weekend, despite the pausing of the travel bubble between New Zealand and Victoria.

Kiwi health officials will decide tomorrow whether the suspension of the Victoria transtasman bubble should be extended as Melbourne battles an increasing outbreak that has swelled to 15 cases.

The pause came into effect at 7:59pm (NZT) Tuesday.

However, it cast doubt over whether the Rebels would be able to make it back to New Zealand for their match in Queenstown on Sunday, after returning back to Melbourne following their loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington last week.

Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark said the Rebels would be basing themselves in Sydney from today, and believed they will be able to travel to New Zealand once the initial 72-hour period lapsed.

"They'll be ready to travel to Queenstown on Saturday morning, just out of Sydney rather than Melbourne," Clark said.
 
"We're really confident the game will go ahead in Queenstown as scheduled – 2.35pm on Sunday. Obviously, there's a bit of water to go under the bridge, but at the moment we're confident the game will go ahead."

The Highlanders match against the Rebels in Queenstown this weekend could be impacted by the pausing of the travel bubble between New Zealand and Victoria. Photo / Photosport

If it emerges the Rebels are unable to leave Australia, the game may be played in Sydney. If they could not find a way to make the game go ahead, the teams would get two points each.

While the pause has created a disruption, Clark said he had no issue with how the outbreak in Victoria was being handled on either side of the Tasman but admitted having to share the points should the match not be able to proceed would not be a great outcome.

"We knew what we were in for. I think the governments in both countries are being really cautious and making sure everybody's safety is as well protected as it can be. So, I'm pretty happy with it really.

"The last option we want is to have a game dropped, because the integrity of the competition then comes into question. From our perspective, and I know from competition management and the Rebels' perspective, we'll do all we can to make sure this game goes ahead this weekend."

It is set to be the second major virus-related disruption the Rebels have faced this year. Prior to the all-Australian competition kicking off, they were forced out of Victoria due to a spike in Covid-19 cases, and played their four home games towards the end of their campaign.

Tuesday's developments will also bring back bad memories for both franchises of what happened in March 2020, when the initial outbreak of the virus forced the multi-country Super Rugby competition to be suspended indefinitely during its seventh round.