Members of the Hurricanes squad have tested positive for COVID-19, with assistant coach Chris Gibbes confirming an undisclosed number of players have contracted the virus.
The Hurricanes are scheduled to host competition newcomers Moana Pasifika at Wellington on Saturday.
"What I can confirm is that we have got COVID in the environment, I'm just not at liberty to tell you who and how many players we've got," says Gibbes. "But it's in the environment and we're working really hard to manage it."
Hooker Asafo Aumua was a late withdrawal for their match against the Highlanders on Saturday with an illness, although Gibbes won't confirm if it was a case of coronavirus.
After the Hurricanes' 21-14 win, captain Ardie Savea mentioned COVID-19 had disrupted the team's build-up to the game.
Gibbes says the team has been well prepared for the virus to infiltrate the squad and they're confident of being ready to take on Moana Pasifika at Sky Stadium.
"At the moment, we're not in that space whatsoever," Gibbes replies, when asked if they'd be able to field a team on Saturday. "We're preparing to take on these guys this weekend.
"It's inevitable. We kind of knew it was coming and we prepared really well for it, so from a whole organisation perspective, we just need to make sure we can get a team out and get our performance going again this weekend."
Join us for live updates of the Super Rugby Pacific clash between Hurricanes v Moana Pasifika at 4:30pm Saturday
