New Zealand withdraws team from Bledisloe Cup and cancels home South Africa Tests

New Zealand this week went into a national lockdown after a case of the Covid-19 Delta strain, which spread from Australia, was detected

Rieko Ioane (L) and Ardie Savea (R) celebrate with the Bledisloe Cup following The Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies at Eden Park last Saturday. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

New Zealand has stopped its men’s team from travelling to Australia for the third Bledisloe match and cancelled two Tests hosting world champions South Africa due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) said in a statement it had “made the decision not to send the All Blacks to Perth this weekend for the third Bledisloe Cup Test” scheduled to take place on August 28.