The chorus of discontent from Super Rugby franchises towards the Government's outdoor events policy continues to grow, with Blues chief executive Andrew Hore calling for urgent clarification on an increasingly "frustrating" situation.
The first four rounds of Super Rugby Pacific have gone ahead with virtually no spectators, while the Women's Cricket World Cup has been allowed to host up to 10 percent of the crowd capacity across the venues.
At Auckland's Eden Park, fans will attend the White Ferns' crucial World Cup match against England on Sunday, but the Blues still aren't allowed a single spectator at the same venue.
Earlier this week, Hore and his counterparts from the other four NZ Super Rugby franchises wrote a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Sports Minister Grant Robertson to simplify attendance regulations.
Hore says Robertson's response stressed the decision laid with the Ministry of Health, whose guidelines he describes as "vague".
"That's where we're at a loss," Hore has told AM. "How we can't have up to even 20 percent in a stadium of up to 45,000-plus.
"It's exactly the same rules. That's where it sits at this stage and what's been incredibly frustrating."
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says: "We will be looking really quickly at the opportunities to look at bigger crowds for Super Rugby and other outdoor sporting events, again based on that information we know that outdoors is a much lower risk setting than indoor."
Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner says the venue is losing $500,000 in fixed costs per month, while nearby businesses in Kingsland and Dominion Rd are also feeling the pinch.
"We just want consistency," Sautner says. "We have all the mechanisms in place.
"We can isolate the people in the crowds, we can do additional cleaning requirements, if necessary. We can do click and collect on our catering outlets
"We want to minimise the risk, but we also know that life needs to go on."
Hore insists the success of the Women's Cricket World Cup has proven how safely outdoor events can operate with crowds, and wants spectators allowed at Hamilton's FMG Stadium this weekend when the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki competition is decided between Chiefs Manawa and the Blues.
"[The Cricket World Cup] has done wonderfully well," he says. "We see that as a signal that things could, would, should change pretty quickly.
"We don't begrudge that in any way, but we'd also like it for our women's teams this weekend in Hamilton.
"It would be wonderful to see crowds like that there as well and we're just wondering why we can't."
Only one ad-hoc Super Rugby Pacific fixture will proceed this weekend, with the Chiefs and Moana Pasifika - the only squads not experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak - squaring off at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium.
Hore is confident the Blues will be fit and ready to return for their round-five showdown against the Highlanders at Dunedin.
Join us at 7pm Saturday for live updates of the Moana Pasifika v Chiefs Super Rugby Pacific clash
