Super Rugby’s planned opening match in Queenstown has been postponed after seven Moana Pasifika players tested positive for Covid-19.
A preseason clash between Moana Pasifika and the Highlanders scheduled for today has been cancelled.
Seven players in the Moana Pasifika squad tested positive and the side was isolating in its Queenstown hotel, New Zealand Rugby confirmed last night.
All members of the other five New Zealand Super Rugby Pacific squads tested negative and would continue preparations for the start of the season.
That will include pre-season fixtures in Queenstown this weekend, and the Highlanders would now be part of a game of three halves with the Blues
and Chiefs.
Details for accommodating the postponed season opener, which was scheduled for February 18, had not been established last night.
Moana Pasifika chief executive Pelenato Sakalia said while rapid antigen test results were negative, the team's PCR testing was diverted to Dunedin and therefore delayed due to resources being committed to assessing the Queenstown outbreak.
Queenstown Mayor Jim Boult said yesterday’s developments were disappointing.
Moana Pasifika had been operating in a bubble and Mr Boult was relatively comfortable the players’ presence in the resort would make no difference to spread of the virus in the region.
It was earlier reported the Moana Pasifika and Blues teams had been forced into isolation in their team hotels in Queenstown.
"We need the Southern District Health Board to come in and work through the process to define who are the close contacts in each case," NZR general manager of professional rugby Chris Lendrum said.
"That will then tell us how impacted this team is, who can get back to training when, and the impacts for round one of the competition, in particular."
Moana Pasifika had decided to have the full squad take PCR tests on Thursday, after it was identified a player who trained with the squad on Monday morning, before its departure to Queenstown on a charter flight, subsequently became a close contact.
That player did not travel with the team.
Test results confirmed the positive cases yesterday, but they were not included in the Ministry of Health’s case numbers. That would happen today.
A Blues player identified as a close contact on Wednesday night returned a negative PCR test result on Thursday.
