NZ rugby coaches feel lucky

Pandemic policy has been a winner so far

A common theme of not knowing how much you miss something until you are no longer able to do it has emerged among New Zealand's Super Rugby Aotearoa rugby coaches as they prepare to return to play.

New Zealand leads the world, and apart from Australia, by some distance in reviving the rugby season, albeit under a changed format. But they are in no doubt they are the beneficiaries of the lockdown and border closures which have so far prevented the issues that have occurred with the coronavirus pandemic in other countries.

Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger told Silver Fern Sports: "We're extremely grateful for this opportunity and the situation we find ourselves in our country.

"There's been a lot of pain and suffering but there're so many people worse off and we're lucky. We're talking about coming back to something we love doing, coming back into this competition.

"A lot of hard work has gone into this point from the Government, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Sport, the NZRU and all our management teams, CEOs right down so we're grateful to have this opportunity, " he said.

Team manager Greg O'Brien had attended a multitude of meetings to have the team ready to take advantage of their opportunity, he said.

"I know we've spent a lot of time on gratitude and acknowledging that because there a lot of people a lot worse off so we've not got a lot to complain about.

"Pay cuts and all those things, yeah, they hurt but we're lucky we've got this opportunity ahead of us to go and do what we love doing as coaches, administrators, players and also representing our region.

"A lot of those people have suffered through this pandemic as well, although they can't come to the stadiums they'll be there in their living rooms. We've had some awesome messages from our community and what we want to show them is our commitment by how we perform out on the field," he said.

New work conditions were part and parcel of the return to preparation. It was down to minimising the risk.

"We'll do whatever is required because if it means we can play some footy again that's the ideal, so we'll just suck it up and do what we've got to do," he said.

It was also down to usually incidental things that were laid on for players such as supplement preparations and ice baths in their own homes which they will have to prepare for themselves all in an attempt to minimise risks.

Blues forward coach Tom Coventry said his group felt fortunate to be able to get back to preparing to play.

"I think the country has handled the pandemic excellently, we've been well led and there have been some excellent initiatives in place.

"It's great being back with the team, we love doing this job, we're lucky. We talk about it often how lucky we are to be involved in professional sport in our country.

"There are some really good people involved in making this work. The New Zealand Rugby Union have worked hard with the Government, we've got a medical staff that have worked hard to make sure that we are going to mitigate the risk and we have a team of guys that are keen to make this work," he said.

They were all aware they needed to be on top of the situation and crystal clear on what they were doing.

"We don't want to stuff this up because it is important for us and it is important for the country," he said.

They knew they were role models for others and that increased the need to get things right.

"I think we've done a pretty good job in New Zealand to get to this stage so quickly," he said.

While there were changes to usual routines in assembly, travel, with all games involving travel to and from other cities on the same day as the game and then home straight afterwards, he was sure the players were ready to cope with issues that might crop up as a result.