Moana Pasifika matches that were postponed in Rounds 1 & 2 have been rescheduled.
The Super Rugby Pacific Competitions Committee has confirmed the rescheduled dates and venues for two previously postponed Super Rugby Pacific matches, both involving Moana Pasifika.
Moana Pasifika will play two mid-week matches, against the Blues at Mt Smart Stadium on Tuesday 29 March in Round 7, and against the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato on Tuesday 12 April in Round 9.
Confirmation of the rescheduled fixtures follows a COVID outbreak in the Moana Pasifika squad that forced their opening two matches of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season to be postponed. The Competitions Committee believes the announced rescheduled dates cause the least disruption to the tournament and the New Zealand-based teams involved. This includes Moana Pasifika having its bye round in Round 8, directly between their two short turnarounds.
NZR General Manager Professional Rugby & Performance and Committee member, Chris Lendrum said: “It was always our intention to reschedule the matches and it’s a great result for the integrity of the competition. Everyone wants to see every team play each other and it also means Moana Pasifika, the Chiefs, and their fans, have home fixtures to look forward to - hopefully with fans."
“We acknowledge the short turnarounds are not ideal, but we believe we’ve reached the best possible outcome in terms of fairness and player welfare. The basic principle was to reschedule the matches in weeks where the Blues or Chiefs were already playing Moana Pasifika. This means the teams will play each other twice in a week, but they will all have the same rest period between matches.”
The rescheduled matches also have a knock-on effect on the Highlanders Round 9 home match against the Hurricanes at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, which was initially scheduled for Saturday, 16 April. It will be played a day earlier on Friday 15 March as it will switch places with the Moana Pasifika v Gallagher Chiefs match, which moves forward one day to Saturday 16 April.
The Round 4 match between the Hurricanes and Moana Pasifika that was postponed this week due to a COVID outbreak in the Hurricanes camp will be rescheduled for later in the season. The details of this match will be released in the near future.
The revised Super Rugby Pacific schedule for Rounds 7 and 9, with changes in red, is as follows:
Click HERE for the full Super Rugby Pacific 2022 match schedule
