Super Rugby Aotearoa

After missing out in last week’s game-of-three-halves against the Chiefs and Hurricanes in Upper Hutt, Rieko and Akira Ioane, Patrick Tuipulotu, Caleb Clarke, Dalton Papalii, Nepo Laulala, Karl Tu’inukuafe and Alex Hodgman will play on Saturday.

In doing so, Laulala will make his first appearance for the Blues since signing with the Auckland franchise last year, and has been named to start against his former side, the Chiefs.

The noon fixture (live on Sky Sport) will be played at Hautapu Sports in Cambridge and will be closed to the public – NZR level 2 operating protocols will apply due to the close proximity to Auckland and a desire to take maximum precautions ahead of next weekend's Super Rugby Aotearoa kickoff.

The tournament, in which the five New Zealand and Australian teams play cross over games in both countries, is scheduled to start in May.

However the competition is under threat due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, with a trans-tasman bubble needed to make the schedule work.

Currently anyone entering New Zealand or returning from overseas must quarantine for two weeks.

That would make the current Super Rugby Trans-Tasman schedule, which has the Chiefs playing in Perth on the opening round before returning to Hamilton for a home game the following week, unworkable.

The match was scheduled to be played on Saturday as part of the "Blues Footy Fest" event at Eden Park.

Blues CEO Andrew Hore says their priority is the safety and wellbeing of their players, staff and fans.

"We completely understand the situation and we support the directive from the New Zealand Government to reduce risk of any exposure and spread of this virus," Hore said.

"We all need to do our part to protect any spread of Covid-19 and at the current Level-3 Alert means we are unable to proceed with the game."

The Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders have all released new away jerseys for the upcoming campaign following a 2020 season that saw multiple kit clashes.

When the Highlanders played the Bulls in Pretoria in the final game of the pre-COVID-19 version of Super Rugby, the hosts had to change into their white-and-yellow away kit at halftime as the visitors’ away jersey looked too similar to their home strip.

It is the first time the venue has held a Super Rugby fixture, let alone a game of three halves – in which the three squads will all get to play each other for forty minutes.

Upper Hutt Mayor, Wayne Guppy, says the fixture will not only draw fans locally but from the Wairarapa as well.

“Upper Hutt is excited to host some of New Zealand’s biggest rugby stars. We’ll be coming along to show our support at our fortress, ‘The Stone’ (Maidstone Park).”

Hurricanes CEO, Avan Lee, says that excitement is mutual.

A report from the New Zealand Herald suggests O’Connor has sounded out the Chiefs as a potential playing destination in 2021.

The Herald reports O’Connor, who was Australia’s starting first-five in his three test appearances this year, is eager to play in “the world’s toughest domestic competition” and “regularly test himself against the best”.

The 55-test Wallaby reportedly met with Rennie on Friday to discuss a potential release from his contract with the Reds to play in New Zealand next year.

Carter, 38, bowed out of international rugby after leading the All Blacks to victory at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the three-time World Rugby Player of the Year then spent three seasons in Paris with Racing 92 before joining the Kobelco Steelers in Japan in 2018.

However, the global Covid-19 pandemic put an early end to domestic rugby in Japan in 2020 and Carter decided to return to New Zealand to take up a role with the Blues in Super Rugby Aotearoa.

New Zealand Rugby have confirmed the 2021 competition will run with just the same five New Zealand teams as this year, with the addition of a one-off final.

The NZR chair, Brent Impey, said none of the Pacific team bids were both competitive on the field and financially sustainable off the field.

"We are not in a position financially - we're running multi-million dollar losses - to subsidise anything, " he said.

"If we've got money it needs to go into our community, it needs to go into our provinces, so I'm sorry we do not have the money to compromise."

New Zealand set up Super Rugby Aotearoa in 2020 for its five professional franchises after the broader Super Rugby championship was abandoned due to Covid-19.

New Zealand Rugby had hoped to include a team from the Pacific islands for next year's tournament and invited expressions of interest from Australia.

However, its chairman Brett Impey said the pandemic had shelved those plans and "forced" the organisation to think domestically again next year.

"The last thing we want is for any team to come in and get smashed," Impey said.