The discovery of Covid-19 in Waikato and increased alert level restrictions has put next weekend's Farah Palmer Cup final in jeopardy.
The final is due to be held in Christchurch on Saturday, but reigning champions Canterbury will take on last year's runners up Waikato, who earned the right to challengefor the title with a convincing win over Wellington in Hamilton.
However, with Hamilton, Raglan and several other Waikato towns moving to alert level three at midnight tonight, Waikato will not be able to travel to Christchurch without an exemption. No travel exemptions were granted to the Auckland-based NPC and Farah Palmer Cup teams in level three.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the alert-level elevation at a hastily arranged 1pm press conference following the discovery of the two Waikato cases - in Raglan and Hamilton East. Both people are known to each other but there is yet to be an established link to the Auckland outbreak.
As 33 new cases were announced today, Ardern said Level 3 would be imposed from 11.59pm in Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Ngaruawahia, Hamilton city and Huntly. The alert level would be reviewed in five days.
While the initial time frame for the rise in levels would lift on Saturday morning and allow the Waikato side to travel to Christchurch the morning of the match, they would need an exemption to be allowed to train together and would have to hope a move back to level two is not drawn out any longer.
One solution could be to push the final back a week in the hope that the region moves back to level two without any extensions. New Zealand Rugby have been contacted for comment.
The upcoming netball series between the Silver Ferns and a New Zealand men's invitational team, also featuring a NZ A team and the NZ under-21 team, could also be impacted by the restrictions.
The first game of the series is scheduled for Sunday night in Hamilton, two days after restrictions are set to be lifted.
The Waikato's men's rugby team do not have a match scheduled for next weekend – with the Auckland teams still out of the competition, meaning not all teams play every weekend. However, they too would need an exemption, previously received by the Auckland NPC teams in level three, to be able to train this week.
Waikato sit second on the Premiership ladder after the latest round of the NPC, as their shock loss to Championship side Northland saw Tasman move one point clear at the top following their big win over Southland on Sunday afternoon.
In what was a rather one-sided affair from the outset, Tasman raced out to a 39-0 lead inside the opening half, conceding a try late in the opening 40 minutes to go into the break with a 32-point lead.
While they didn't have quite the same output in the second half, they kicked on to topple the Stags 51-14 in a seven-tries-to-two demolition.
