Southern hemisphere rugby body SANZAAR shot down reports that Australia and New Zealand would shift to organising trans-Tasman games after the coronavirus crisis, criticising "misleading information and speculation" on Monday.
Talk has been circulating about possible trans-Tasman fixtures after neighbours New Zealand and Australia, which have both seen significant drops in new infections, started easing strict lockdown rules.
SANZAAR, which groups South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, and administers the Rugby Championship Test series and the Super Rugby club tournament, said none of the member nations had agreed on any new competition formats.
"Having spoken with my SANZAAR board members, I can confirm that none of the suggested models or structures that have been commented on recently, such as standalone Trans-Tasman formats, have been agreed by any of the SANZAAR unions individually or collectively," SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos said in a statement.
"All such reports are merely speculative and have no basis to them."
"The stakeholders are all committed to the joint-venture through to 2030 and once consensus is agreed upon by all the stakeholders it will then be communicated by the SANZAAR board."
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