Moana Pasifika have confirmed there are seven Covid cases in their squad, forcing the postponement of the Super Rugby Pacific opener against the Blues next Friday.
The Pacific franchise has been isolating since Wednesday after it was revealed a player in their wider training squad was identified as a close contact of a confirmed case.
While the player did not travel to Queenstown with the team to enter the competition bubble, they did train with the side prior to their departure.
The new Super franchise proactively made the decision to have full squad take the PCR tests on Thursday.
Tests results confirmed the positive cases on Friday, but they were not included in the Ministry of Health’s case numbers.
The confirmation of cases means the opening match of Super Rugby Pacific between Moana Pasifika and the Blues next Friday in Dunedin can no longer go ahead as planned.
NZ Rugby said in a statement that further work needs "to be done between NZR alongside joint venture partner Rugby Australia, SANZAAR and broadcast partners Sky to explore options to play the postponed match".
NZR's Chris Lendrum said the focus was on supporting the seven players who had contracted the virus.
"We also share the disappointment of the Moana Pasifika players, coaches, staff and fans. We know how hard they have worked and how eager they are to get out on the field," he said.
“However, we also remain confident Moana Pasifika can get through this period of isolation and join the DHL Super Rugby Pacific season and will be doing everything we can to support them over the coming weeks.”
The Blues were also isolating initially on Wednesday after one of their players was also identified as a close contact of a confirmed case, but they have since resumed normal training after testing produced negative results.
Moana Pasifika's outbreak forced the cancellation of their pre-season match against the Highlanders this weekend.
As a result the Highlanders will play the Blues and Chiefs in a game of three halves.
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