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ESPN staff
New Zealand may reintroduce a North Island vs. South Island match to the national fixture list as it looks for ways to restart its domestic rugby season.
Super Rugby, along with all competitions in New Zealand, has been suspended as part of the measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, but the the nation’s players union has been heavily involved in scenario planning with the governing body, New Zealand Rugby, and teams as to how the season might recommence.
Sam Whitelock, a veteran of 117 Tests with the All Blacks, ackowledged the North vs. South fixture “used to be the grudge match of the year” in New Zealand. The fixture was an annual affair in New Zealand until the mid-1980s, but it has not bee played since 2012 — when a game, won by South, 32-24, was staged in Dunedin to raise money for the financially troubled Otago Rugby Football Union.
Whitelock, who is on the board of the players union, said on Sky Sports in New Zealand, “for me personally, I’ve never played a North v South match and I’ve heard a few great stories about how it used to be the grudge match of the year”.
“We are looking at that and All Blacks trials if we can’t travel internationally.”
Whitelock returned to New Zealand after his short-term contract with Robbie Deans’s Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan was cut short when Japan’s domestic competition, the Top League, was cancelled in March due to the coronavirus.
He said he hoped to play for the Crusaders, for whom he has won more than 140 Super Rugby caps, winning three titles, or the Canterbury provincial side.
“We are pretty gutted the Japan competition has been cancelled, we understand, but we were sitting pretty well on the table,” Whitelock said on Sky Sports.
“But we are back in New Zealand at the moment and we will make our way back to Christchurch once we are allowed to travel a bit further.
“We will head back there and hopefully meet back up with the Crusaders or Canterbury, whatever competition kicks off first.”
The All Blacks’ international season is scheduled to start with two Tests against Wales and one against Scotland in July, but the fixtures are in doubt due to travel restrictions and border controls to contain the coronavirus.
Players would also need a three- or four-week lead-in before any restart to get match-fit, Whitelock said.
“There are a number of calendars out there that we are debating,” he said.
“As players, we just have to be ready to go when we do get the information from the Government saying we can get into it at this level.”
(Information from Reuters was included in this report)