Rugby Championship teams, including the All Blacks, have reportedly been ordered into a “training bubble” and restricted to their hotels after a COVID-19 outbreak ahead of the tournament’s final matches at Australia’s Gold Coast.
Six new COVID-19 cases have been detected in Brisbane and the Gold Coast in the past 48 hours, Queensland state health officials said, as they reintroduced mask-wearing rules and refused to rule out the possibility of a snap lockdown.
That has reportedly forced the New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and South Africa players and staff to restrict their movements in the lead-up to the culmination of the annual Rugby Championship this weekend.
Photo: EPA-EFE
All Blacks assistant coach Scott McLeod on Tuesday said that the teams had been placed into a bubble, leaving their accommodation only for training and essential reasons.
“We’re not allowed out of the hotel except for essentials or medical visits,” the New Zealand Herald quoted him as saying on the Gold Coast.
McLeod said that the side knew “how to have some fun indoors” after facing disease prevention restrictions in the past.
“It’s something that’s unexpected, but we’ve had it before and dealt with it really quickly,” he said.
The minor outbreak has also raised speculation that the rugby league grand final — scheduled for Saturday night in Brisbane — could be moved to the north Queensland city of Townsville.
The Penrith Panthers are due to play the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the Suncorp Stadium in a match already shifted from Sydney for the first time in history, as Australia’s biggest city grapples with a major coronavirus outbreak.
Rugby union is to be the focus on Saturday, with the All Blacks set to take on the Springboks and the Pumas facing the Wallabies.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS